Man of Revival and Renewal (Ezra)

Let's take our Bible. I'm sure you've already turned to the book of Ezra, but let's turn to chapter 7 Ezra chapter 7 and like I said earlier we're gonna be in verses 1 through 10 Ezra chapter 7 verses 1 through 10 of course this is in our study Through the book of Ezra and you know the title of the series the theme that I have given the title Of this series is reform and renewal in God's people of course This all centers around God calling his people to Jews Back to their homeland they had been in captivity They had been under the judgment of God the correction of God They had been in Babylonian captivity So much is mentioned and talked about about those who were in Babylonian captivity But we know that there were those who also in Assyrian captivity, but this this entire story This saga is about God calling them back and we are seeing them come back to reform and renew their worship and Rebuild as a people and it's been enjoyable in these first six chapters, and I look forward to To to what else we're going to learn If I were to pause right here in this study and what I mean pause pause between chapter 6 and chapter 7 I think I would be accurate in saying that I think some of you have been pleasantly surprised and How relevant what we've looked at has been?

Specifically to your life. I've enjoyed hearing some of that you up share some of those things I know in my absence a Wednesday night Chris Cooksey shared. I know that he shared with you some of the things that God's taught him out of these first six chapters and it's very Pleasant for me to hear but I do believe that some of you were probably surprised At some of the things that you've learned how relevant they have been and also how relevant these things are these truths are these examples to our time in our day as a church very very relevant a lot of people overlook the Old Testament But the Old Testament is rich from Genesis to Revelation the Word of God is rich now in Again pausing between chapter 6 and chapter 7 I want to say to you it really just gets better as we continue So I want to encourage you to look forward to to being taught and to learn to to not just being taught but to learn things that are very Relevant not just to you as an individual Christian, but to us as church now I want to make a few introductory comments that pertain to the entire book and then also to a few that pertain to Ezra as a man before we get into this message If you look at the book of Ezra scholars tell us Bible commentators tell us that there are two main divisions In this book and really these main divisions are pretty easy to see the first division is chapters 1 through 6 We've already finished chapters 1 through 6 you should know But these chapters chapters 1 through 6 make up the story of the first wave of exiles Who returned they have that long journey about a thousand miles about four months They came from Babylonian captivity and they came back to Jerusalem there in Judea within these chapters We have been seeing the activity of returning to their homeland and I emphasize that word returning We've been seeing them renewing their worship practices are Emphasized that word renewing they've been rebuilding the temple We know that that took them quite a long time, but they finally have rebuilt the temple and I think that if those three words returning renewing and rebuilding truly summarize Those first six chapters they're returning home.

They're returning to their God They're renewing their worship and their worship practices. They're rebuilding the house of God and Most of you should remember you should remember these main characters men like Zerubbabel and She'll tell remember those were the two men who they were really the boots on the ground and then also they were the prophets Hagia Zechariah and of course, we know there were several Kings pagan kings, but we mentioned those names We mentioned these words these words of returning and renewing and rebuilding Because they help us get our minds around what we've learned in the chapter I tell you for me personally what's been very refreshing to see is the roles in These different individuals we had Zerubbabel.

He led that group back He was more like a government official a governor and he was a man who was He was that that boots on the ground, but then we did have the prophets we had Hagia in Zechariah And remember how the work was really energized under their preaching and their teaching We cannot emphasize Enough the need of God called men to enable God's people to be energized Spiritually to do that work.

So I was really blessed by seeing the roles of these individuals now the second division in in this book of Ezra are chapter 7 through 10 These chapters start with the second wave of exiles who made that journey again about a thousand miles about four months That second wave comprised of about 2,000 people in number Obviously a lot smaller than that first wave done under Zerubbabel of 50,000 plus or minus now The main character in these chapters chapter 7 through 10 is Ezra He is the main chapter and will he is the main character and we will see that now Some of you might say well, he is the main character He is the key figure in all of the book the book was named after him Well, if you've paid attention you have noticed that Ezra is not mentioned in the first six chapters Why because he was not on the scene Now when Ezra returns we will see that he initiates great spiritual works great spiritual works of renewal great spiritual works of Revival and he helps the exiles return in a great way to the Word of God as well as bringing about great reform and great repentance in their lives in these lives these exiles Several of the Bible commentators that I read and I've looked at this week They use the word revival now that word gets abused a lot in our culture You know, we're gonna have a revival meeting.

Well, a revival is not something that we can have we can do Revival comes down revival is a spiritual work that comes first from God But I think it's safe for us to use this word revival here because Revival does take place in Ezra and through Ezra One commentator that I read said that revival in and through Ezra Began not in Jerusalem and in Judea, but it began in Godless pagan Babylon and it was carried over into Jerusalem. I Think that's very accurate.

I Think it's accurate to say that and I think it's important for us to see I do think that that is the way That this great spiritual revival work began I believe it began in the hearts of men like Ezra as they were wallowing in that pagan Godless society and I believe that the fires of revival were kindled in him and he brought them with him and No doubt there were others who came along with that same heart So I believe it started there in Babylon and as Ezra continued and as he came to Jerusalem We will see not only reform not only rebuilding not only repentance But I believe we will see true revival through Ezra and the people So I think it's safe to say that we will see these themes throughout the remaining chapters Returning because there's some returning reforming Because they are continuing to reform their lives according to the Word of God Repenting because we will see that they do fall back into some grievous sin And then we will see reviving that comes from God Let me give you the title of the message and I will share with you the truths that we're going to explore out of these verses The title of the message is man of revival and renewal Ezra Ezra and like I said, he is coming on the scene here He's been in Babylon the whole time and now we see him come in to the picture We're gonna be in verses 1 through 10 And we're gonna look at two main truths all centered around this man his godly lineage and his godly character Let's turn our attention to these verses Notice verse 1 now after these things After the things that took place in chapters 1 through 6 There was a a pause in between these chapters.

So Ezra is picking up. He's starting the story in a sense over again after these things in the last chapter Since over again after these things in the reign of arctic circuses king of Persia There went up Ezra So here comes Ezra on the scene now the next couple of verses We will see that there is a list of genealogy in Ezra's life if you look on down to verse 5 We will see the son of Eliazar the son of Aaron the chief priest in That we see that he was a direct descendant of Aaron Then notice verse 6 this Ezra went up from Babylon See how he is introduced into the narrative verse 1 now after these things What do we see in the reign of arctic circuses there went up Ezra and now verse 6 Ezra Went up from Babylon.

So now here comes Ezra on the scene and He was a scribe Skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given the king Given and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him And some of the sons of Israel and some of the priests and Levites the singers the gatekeepers the temple servants went up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King artists irkses and He came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was the seventh year of the king for on the first Of the first month he began to go up from Babylon and on the first of the fifth month He came to Jerusalem that tells us that that was about a four-month journey and notice because the hand of His God was upon him and then verse 10 this verse we read earlier for Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it in the teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel Now you will notice that in this message.

We're covering a shorter a smaller amount of scripture I wanted us to take our time in these verses because There's some things about Ezra that I really want us to see obviously not exhaustive But very much some truth we need to see so truth number one Notice his godly lineage He is godly lineage. We see that in verses 1 through 5 there is this list of forefathers we see his descendancy and In this lineage if you know your Old Testament, you will know that it is an incomplete Genealogy now this might be confusing for some of you that many times the writers do not give full Genealogies and that is the case here.

But in this genealogy, I want us to notice two people two people First I want us to notice his priestly lineage His priestly lineage. What do we see there in verse 5? I mentioned this earlier That his great great great great grandfather was who it was Aaron And what does the scripture say the chief priest? That tells us that he was a direct descendant of Aaron and he was of a priestly lineage Being a descendant of Aaron tells us that he was a priest although he was a scribe Had there been a temple in Jerusalem before he probably would have functioned there as a priest now We know the temple's been rebuilt, but had the temple not been destroyed had they not been judged?

No doubt Ezra could have been a priest Operating there in the temple as a matter of fact, he could have even ascended to the position of the high priest But I want us to see this priestly lineage Men in that day could not just become a priest They had to be born a priest and they had to be born as a direct descendant of the first priest and that was Aaron now that's going to come into play in our application and I want you to hold on to his priestly lineage The second thing I want you to see is his zealous lineage his zealous lineage Now you might not see this but we see some some some zealous Blood in his veins by looking at his lineage go back to verse 5 We will see that another one of his descendants was a man named Phineas.

I Was discussing this passage with my wife and when I said the word Phineas She automatically thought about Hothnaya Phineas the sons of Eli the priest that is a different Phineas here in these verses now This descendant this man named Phineas He dates back all the way to Numbers chapter 25 I'd like you to write that passage down that chapter Numbers chapter 25 I would encourage you to go back and look at that story It is a gripping story and I'm going to run us through there to show you what this man Phineas was like In that day the Jews had fallen into gross sin Now the gross sin was twofold They had married foreign women and in marrying foreign women they had begun to worship their foreign gods That is one of the reasons why God said to never marry the foreigners Because he knew that if they were to marry foreign women they would begin to worship foreign gods Is it that one of the grievous mistakes that King Solomon made he took these pagan wives and ultimately he ended up worshiping Their false gods, but that's what had taken place with the people of God They were in disobedience to the word of God here in Numbers chapter 25 well, we see that as a Judgment of God there was a plague that broke out against the people Destroying their people for their sin as a matter of fact one of the Israelites who had a medianite woman He really paraded this sin out in broad daylight He was proud of this sin of marrying a foreign wife But Phineas had great zeal for God and he had a great zeal for holiness in the people and he had a great zeal for obedience to the word of God and In that chapter chapter 25 of Numbers It said that this Israelite with this foreign bride this foreign woman went into their tent and the scripture says that Phineas Took a spear and he went into that tent and he ran that spear through both of them all the way through their body thus killing them and Destroying them for that sin and this might surprise some of you But because of the action of Phineas The plague stopped Why?

Because he was executing judgment for that sin And I want you to see that this man that we know very little about Phineas Had a great zeal for God a great zeal for holiness a great zeal for the word of God So much so that it seems like he took it upon himself to do the work of God But he was blessed of God because of his zeal Now We see in this heritage We see in this lineage two things that come into play with Ezra What I want to do is use some language that we can grab a hold of Ezra was cut from this kind of cloth Ezra he came from this type of a mold Ezra he came from this kind of stock.

You know when we're talking about livestock we can use that kind of language I know that my father-in-law used to be in the purebred cattle business before God called me in the ministry I used to help him in that business. I enjoyed that but when he had certain Bulls or certain heifers certain calves. He understood what kind of stock they came from What kind of bloodline they came from this is the kind of bloodline that? Ezra had and I want us to see two things about Ezra first.

He had a priestly position and Also, he had great zeal Now he didn't kill anybody Just like his forefather Phineas did but we will see that he had great zeal And I'm telling you from chapter 7 all the way to chapter 6 10. We will see this zeal coming to play So he had this priestly position that he couldn't buy But he inherited because of his descent and he had this zeal and he had this zeal for God the Word of God and the things of God and the total work of God now An application about this lineage. I want us to see two things.

I Want us to see that we desperately need God called men who were set apart because God Set them apart Now I'm gonna race back and forth between Aaron in that day and our day in that day God set apart Aaron and his descendants to serve as priests before him God did that money could not buy that position They were set apart by God and in our day We are not physically descendants of Aaron but men of God ministers of the gospel God called men are Set apart by the sovereign work and plan of God and in the life of the church today and in our culture today and in around the world today we need men of God who are truly set apart and Also, we need those men of God to be men of tremendous zeal They have a zeal for their call and they have a zeal for the work of God And that is exactly what we will see in Ezra He had a zeal for his call and he had a zeal for the work and from the very moment He came to Jerusalem all the way through this journey this zeal for God the Word of God and the work of God was evident and listen Excuse me.

It is so sad today that we see so little of this type of character We need men of God who will not squander their call who do not have a weak call Who do not have an average call they have a call from God God has set them apart God is so worked in their lives that they know that they have a call of God to the gospel ministry To the work of the church to kingdom work. They know they are called they are unique They are set apart They are not like everybody else and not only do they know they're called and they will not squander their call They attack their call with a tremendous zeal for a true work of God.

How rare is that? today We desperately need this And I want to stand here before you as your pastor and I speak for myself first and I can speak for brother Keith second We are both men who would attest to a divine call of God God's called us to this work. This is not of our own choosing and our own making This is a work of God that God has done in us and listen We want this same zeal?

We want this same Godly zeal to attack the Word of God to attack the work of God to attack Kingdom work to do it with all of our might with all of our energy with all of our strength no matter what the cost Because we have received a mandate from God and a call from God and one of the saddest things And one of the most difficult things for me in my journey in ministry is to see so many people seemingly squander their call I Remember years ago listening to my home church pastor.

I was probably One or two years old in the faith, but I can remember my pastor brother Dennis talking about Different men that he knew that had gone into the ministry about the same time he had and him talking about how many of them Just fell away one by one Yes, some did fall in the sin You know some fell to immorality and things like that, but not all of them did I don't remember names, but I can remember him talking about men and individuals Who started the race they lit out for the glory of God and somehow some way they forgot their call They squandered their call they left their call Maybe they were never called to begin with but I can remember that that that despair in his voice That despair on his face and now Because I've been saved long enough.

I know what he meant In my limited amount of experience I've seen people who just left their call Or stepped away from their call or squandered their call It's an individual that I've known Minister to tried to help said he was called to use another friend's words. He would say he just quit Kingdom work will never be done with those types of men The work of the church The work of taking the gospel to the lost the work of building the church will never ever ever Be on the shoulders of men who do not bear their call and bear it with great zeal much like Ezra he had to shoulder a great and Wonderful work a heavy work and important work.

This was God's work And I want to emphasize that to you because listen to me brother Keith and I must be cut from this Same cloth we must come from this type of stock as well. We must come out of this same mold Because if we are going to shoulder the work of the church For not just this year and the next year's to come but for the generations that come after us We must be Ezra tight characters Coming from this type of lineage I Want us to move on let's notice truth number two.

I want us to notice his godly character His godly character will notice a transition here from those first five verses Again, it repeats this Ezra went up from Babylon and he was a scribe a skilled scribe in the law of Moses Which the Lord the God of Israel had given and the king granted him all the requests because the hand of the Lord was upon him Then starting in verse 7 we see those who came with Ezra Who came up and then at the end of verse 9 because the hand of his God was upon him for Ezra had set his heart He had set his heart to study or seek after the law of the Lord to practice it to teach it to teach it statues in his ordinances in Israel and we see this in verses 6 through 10, but primarily verses 6 and 10 now here in these verses we begin to see specifics about Ezra the man Earlier, it's a little more general Great godly heritage a great lineage, but we see specifics about his spiritual makeup about his spiritual Character let me give you an example that will help you with his spiritual character There are people that we might come in contact with in our culture from time to time.

They have great character in the area of work We've all run across someone who had a lazy bone or two. Maybe they had a big big fat wide lazy streak down their back But when someone they have work character, they know how to work They want to work and they apply their life to work They roll up their sleeves and you do not have to ask if they know how to work You don't know it.

You don't have to ask if they do work that is self-evident and there are certain things about people that are self evident and What I want us to see is this is his spiritual makeup This is his spiritual character and this was self evident as a matter of fact even artists artsies notice this so Ezra had spiritual or godly character and It was obvious.

I want us to notice some truths about His spiritual character some some details three things first notice He is great learning as a scribe Verse 6 this Ezra went up from Babylon and he was a scribe Skilled in the law of Moses the modern translations read skilled the King James reads ready scribe This meant that he was a very skilled Man in the law of Moses. I think that we could identify with that word skilled easier It meant that he was very skilled. He was very competent with the law of Moses Now as a scribe he would have been responsible in many ways He would have been responsible for Transcribing the law of God.

Did you know that they transcribed or wrote the law of God by hand? He would have been responsible for learning the law He would have been responsible for studying it and as a matter of fact church history church tradition Excuse me tells us that Ezra more than likely had the very first five books of the Bible the Pentateuch memorized So he would have learned the law of God, but also he would have been very skilled in making proper Application of the law and then as a scribe he would have been skilled in making Application of the law you see that multi-layered skill that he had He would have been skilled in transcribing the law.

He would have been skilled in learning the law He would have been skilled in making application of the law and he would have been skilled in interpreting the law to the people of God and we will see these skills Unfold all through these chapters So he had great learning as a scribe and see that word learning. I don't know if it captures it all He had great learning. He knew the word He could interpret the word and he could apply the word and listen. He knew it from the inside out second I Want us to see his great favor with God? What do we see in chapter six or excuse me verse six?

The second part because the hand of the Lord his God Was upon him. What do we see at the end of verse nine? Because the good hand of his God was upon him So not only was he skilled in the law of God but the hand of God was on him We see this phrase throughout the book of Ezra and also in the book of Nehemiah Now I've already stated to you that in the Old Testament the Hebrew Bible the Hebrew Old Testament The book of Ezra and Nehemiah were really one work But in our English Bible in Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 8 and in chapter 2 verse 18 That same phrase is used to describe Nehemiah So all through the book of Ezra and in Nehemiah We saw we see that Ezra had great favor with God.

This tells us that Ezra Enjoyed if I can use that term great favor from God for God's Purposes in his life. I think it's important for you to see that He enjoyed the hand of God the favor of God on his life for God's purposes And this was also for the people because the people needed to see and recognize that God was with Ezra in all that he was doing and Not only did the people see it But even Arctic Cirkses So he had great favor with God He had an anointing from God the hand of God was on him in such a way that it is said throughout the chapters Arctic Cirkses would have noticed it and the people and then third He is great discipline.

Look at verse 10 For Ezra had set his heart to study to seek the law of the Lord to practice it to teach it what does it say he taught his statutes and ordinances to Israel I ran across a little phrase MacArthur calls this a pattern of his life Very simple, but it's very accurate. I like it and I want us to see that there is a pattern of discipline in his life there is a pattern of Discipline what is this pattern? First he studied the law He studied the Word of God He sought out the Word of God Diligently, he studied the Word of God. So that is the first step in this pattern That is the first step in this discipline.

The second step was he practiced the Word of God Another words it wasn't enough just for him to learn it in his mind, but he had the spiritual ability to Practice what he had learned that is the next step in that pattern That is the second step in that discipline and then third he taught the Word of God So that is the third step in this pattern.

That is the third step in this discipline So notice this pattern he studied the word he practiced the word He lived at that meet that's what that means and he taught the word and we will see this throughout the rest of the book this verse verse 10 is really the beginning of this in His life all throughout the book He taught the people with a great anointing with great favor from God and this is part of God using him to a bringing him and using him in a work of returning and Reforming and repenting all throughout the book returning to the Word of God Reforming their lives to the Word of God Repenting according to the Word of God and then enjoying a revival from God and at the heart of all of this is this discipline Studying the word Practicing the word and teaching the word.

So you see his character You see that that fabric in his life He was a very learned scribe. He had great anointing a great favor from God and he had great discipline And we see here Ezra's godly character his spiritual character. We see his makeup We see his DNA He was very learned in the Word of God He was very disciplined to obey it practice it and very gifted as a teacher Now it's important for us to see this He Had favor from God now listen that allowed him to be able to Function in the role that was before him as a teacher of the Word of God.

Let me say that again He had favor from God that favor that anointing was not given by God just to be given That favor that anointing that came from God was an equipping For him to be able to do the work of God and the heart of that work was teaching the Word of God Now an application for you and for me and for us is this and I speak first for me And then second for brother Keith We desperately need favor from God To do just as Ezra did It doesn't matter what phrase or what terminology you use favor anointing the hand of God We desperately need favor from God and anointing from God We need the hand of God on us so that we can do Exactly what Ezra did but here's the mistake if we're not careful we can say it like this We need the favor of God so that we can teach the Word of God But that was not the pattern of Ezra's life The pattern is ever of Ezra's life was this he studied the Word of God first to obey it and second to teach it Brother Keith and I need the favor of God so that we can study the Word First to obey it in our own personal lives because if we are not obeying the Word of God We are hypocrites And we would not have the anointing of God to teach And listen we need this same anointing that can only come from God and look if God grants us his favor To discipline our lives to study the Word of God And gives us a heart to obey the Word of God then a natural outflow A natural outpouring as we do the job that God has for us as we will have an anointing to teach you the Word of God And listen I say this Please pray for us in this area that this work would be more and more evident in our lives Because listen there are no shortcuts There are no shortcuts there is no new modern method to get around this And look it is not enough for me to preach Well, it is not enough even for me to be able to preach and help you understand I need favor from God to learn the Word simply for me to obey it So I want to say to you please pray for us that we would have a character exactly like Ezra And that you would say I know that my pastor You would say I know that the elders of our church.

They are anointed Not just to do this work But they are anointed to know the Word And to live the Word and I see the Word in their lives. I see the Word in their homes I see the Word in everything that they do and teaching is just an overflow Of that work. Do you see that? You see how needed that is today? Now I want to move to the conclusion of our message we've looked at two truths Out of Ezra we've made two observations his godly lineage and his godly character I want to use an example That God has been using in my life lately some of the examples the stories that I might share sometimes They really really hit the nail on the head sometimes They are not as sharp and sometimes I don't know a lot of times i'll just share These stories these examples that that are in my life that help me.

So if it helps me more than you Excuse me for that But in the past week I picked up a book that i've had for a long time It is uh the diary Of a man that is very famous his name is David Brainerd Now I want to warn you when I mentioned to you David Brainerd If you purchase David Brainerd's diary, it is a very difficult read I have mentioned it to people before they've gone and purchased it and they've come back into spare Because it's difficult to read David Brainerd never wrote his personal diary to be published It was for his own personal walk with God, but it was published later But to just give you a little A little brief biography about who David Brainerd was David Brainerd lived in the American colonies prior to the revolution He lived during the time of what was called the first great awakening in the 1730s and 40s and he was a Missionary to the American Indian tribes there in the new England area You might not realize it, but when those first Americans came The land was full of Indians And there were those who did desire to take the gospel to those Indians And he has a very interesting life.

He died of tuberculosis at a very early age the age of 29 But I want to help you because there is a resource that can help you as we study his life There is an individual who has long since been dead He took David Brainerd's diary and he edited it. He took out all of the difficult read So i've got the good version if you're looking for your own library your own personal growth you look for David Brainerd's Book, um, that's called the man of prayer. It is, um put together abridged by Oswald J. Smith so if you run across One that's been compiled or edited or abridged by Oswald J.

Smith you will get that easy to read version So I do have the difficult version, but I also have the easy to read version But this week as I was recovering From my little minor surgery. I picked up this book and I read it And I ran across some things that will help you see this Ezra type Man, I'll read you a few quotes and then i'm going to make application for Keith and I As Oswald J.

Smith edited the work he dealt with his personal life first And then in chapter two he gets into the ministry with the Indians But just notice some of these quotes Again, he's writing this in his own prayer time with God Thursday October the 21st had a deep sense of the vanity of the world And notice this I love to live on the brink of eternity On down to Friday October the 22nd he goes on to say that I felt a disposition in me Never like I have had before to despair to the things of the world and then notice what he says here Oh that I may never loiter in my heavenly journey, you know what a loiter is One who just hangs around and in that language, what is he saying?

I want to live my journey with zeal If I go back a little What do we see? Wednesday, June the 30th spent this day alone in the woods in fasting and in prayer A whole day set apart for what? Prayer in fasting Monday, June the 2nd i'm going backwards. I know I set apart this day for secret secret fasting in prayer Then what do we see the day before he says I think I have not I have had not such a power of intercession In months, what do we see that great zeal for God? And then as we continue in his diary, what do we see?

God enable me so to agonize in prayer that I was quite wet with sweat Though in the shade and in the cool of the wind what am I showing you a great man of prayer and a man Of fasting and what do we see a heart and a zeal for what God? But when you peel back the layer of him as a man of God, what do you see? It is all around one task That he might take the gospel to the Indians All through his journey. What do we see? He see that he had a great burden to take the gospel What do we see Tuesday, April the 6th?

I found myself willing to suffer banishment Among the heathen who is he talking about those dreadful heathen Indians that I might do something for their soul's salvation What am I showing you? He had a zeal for God and a zeal for the work of God and what did he say? Oh that I might not be a loiterer Ezra was no loiter He had great zeal for God For the word of God and for the work of God now as I close I must be honest with you Much of what I am sharing with you tonight is shared from a very selfish perspective It enables me to see how serious I must take my call And how serious I must take this work Brother Keith and I have had many discussions, especially lately Of the fact that this is a very serious call that we have shouldered We understand that it comes from God.

We have not manufactured this And we see as we are journeying more and more the seriousness of this work This is not a take it or leave it thing for us This is not something that we just take lightly. No, we are banking our all on this call and on this work Exactly like Ezra He did Left the comfort of babylon took great risks Came back home with that great zeal To attack the work that was before him That's all brother Keith and I want to do And so I ask you to help us pray Diligently for us because we are desiring the shoulder this great work And look when we enjoy the hand of God much like this It affects you and it affects this work I'll leave you with one quotation that kind of wraps this up F.

B. Meyer is a famous Baptist Bible commentator. I look at his works. They're free works. You can get them and access them online But fb Meyer was speaking about these verses in Ezra. Notice what he said And when God's hand is on us It is also on others Preparing them to cooperate When god needs an instrument he will come to men of ezra's spirit Brother Keith and I desire to be of ezra's spirit And as we enjoy god's hand on us We expect to see god's hand on you as well I hope that's spoken to you tonight If anything, I hope that it has motivated you to pray for us and pray for this work That we would be men of revival and renewal Father thank you for these passages.

Thank you for these verses