The Return of God's People to Rebuild

Well take your Bible tonight turn with me to the book of Ezra the Small not very big book of Ezra now obviously you should know that's that's in the Old Testament It's first second crank Kings first second chronicles then Ezra if you get to Nehemiah Esther Job You've gone too far but the book of Ezra This is a book that I have studied through the years, but it's been several years since I've even looked into it at all But the back past couple of weeks.

I have found myself back in this book in anticipating where we were going to go after we finished Dealing with the spiritual markers which came after those seven churches Revelation when we talked about the fact that the church must finish strong So tonight we are going to start and like I said this morning through the book of Ezra now Usually when I start a new book I will take one message and I'll give an overview of a book you know there are a lot of people in the life of the church they might not know Really the whole gist of a book of the Bible and and that really does help It's very important to understand the backgrounds, but it's very important to understand really an overview of a book This this always helps us in understanding the messages that are within a book Really when you have a book of the Bible you have a message a total message of that that book But yet there are messages within that book.

I'll give you an example It's been quite some time but when we went through first and second Timothy if you understand that Paul was the mentor and Timothy was his student and if you understand that Paul is doing all that he could do to to duplicate himself in Timothy and He is placing him there at the church at Ephesus a Struggling fellowship that he's desiring to be straightened out if you understand that context that background Then when Timothy starts dealing with problems, then you'll understand when you get to some of those details Then you will understand now with this book the book of Ezra I'm not going to give an entire message on the background But I'm going to give you a big portion of that and then along the way.

I will give you some more background I'll give you some more information that's relevant to the particular message So that you'll begin to get your mind around the book itself and not just not just the messages I said this morning. We're really not going to go verse by verse through this book There's lots of information that really would be very laborious to get through If you look at chapter 2 and you look at the individuals who are part of that first wave or turning back to Israel It really would be meaningless to spit first for us to spend that much time dealing with some of this information So we're not going to put the plow too deep, but I want us to learn some truths out of this book That I think will speak to us in preparation for the fall and also for the spring now first I want to mention some basic information about the book of Ezra the book is named after a man named Ezra some of you might not realize it but Ezra was a man and He is one of if not the key figure in the book Ezra was a scribe He was one who taught God's Word to God's people chapter 7 verse 6 says that he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses That meant he was very learned in the ways of God and he was equipped to teach The scriptures and he was instrumental in bringing about reform and renewal and a spiritual revival Among the people as well as leading the second wave of Jews back from Babylonian captivity To Jerusalem there in Israel the first migration begins in chapter 1 and the second migration Begins in chapter 7 of this particular book and the book of Ezra and Nehemiah are one book in the Hebrew Bible It's divided for us in our English Bibles and they are they both tell the story of the captives the Israelites returning back And leaving their captivity now the books of Ezra and Nehemiah Esther Hagia and Zachariah are all from one time period So when you look at the Old Testament and you look at those books You go back and you look at those Ezra Nehemiah Esther when you look at Hagia Zachariah They all come from the same time period and basically deal with the same events But something I ran across this week that's interesting for you Ezra Nehemiah and Esther are more historical.

I've never thought about it like that. It's really the unfolding of the story But Hagia and Zachariah they're more prophetic and we do know that they were prophets who were used during that time Second I want to mention that the background of the book God is bringing the Jews out of God has brought the Jews out of Egyptian captivity under Moses.

We know that story Remember God is calling them unto himself to form them into a great nation And he's desiring to call them to himself to fulfill his purposes Now through his prophet Jeremiah if you want the specific reference to the prophecy chapter 2 verse 14 and 15 God had told his people that if they forsook him and they broke covenant with him he would allow other Pagan nations to overrun them and to take them back into slavery and captivity Well, I think you know the rest of the story the Jews did not obey God They did break covenant and God was faithful to do what he said he would do in 722 BC the Assyrians overran The ten northern tribes of Israel and then later in 606 or 605 right around there BC the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar They overran Judah and then we see the Jews they spent 70 years in captivity and the book of Ezra And the book of Nehemiah are a record of God bringing his people out of captivity and into and back into The promised land so this is on the heels of a very depressing Situation the judgment of God and the chastisement of God on his people now Next I want to mention some basics that will help us get started because we are going to cover some truth in chapter 1 First I want to name the key people in the book The key people in the book the first key person is Ezra.

We've already mentioned him. He was a scribe He was a teacher. He leaves reforms among the people before and after they returned to Israel You might not realize it But he did lead that second group from back from captivity Which was about 2,000 people if you know the geography if you look at the maps in that day They traveled well over a thousand miles to be able to go back home So Ezra is really the key person in the book enlisted among the key people also The first one mention in the book we're going to see in chapter 1 verse 1 is King Cyrus King Cyrus of Persia He was a king who conquered Babylon if you know the story You know that each of these nations were conquered and the the nation of Israel the Jews were stuck in the midst of all that But King Cyrus was the king who can't conquered Babylon and he was used by God to help people Help return the people back to their homeland now This is interesting and a lot of people might not realize it God is using a pagan king to fulfill his purposes Isn't that good when God decides he's going to do something?

No one's going to stand in his way and as a matter of fact God will even use pagans for his purposes Because the sovereign God is just that good Then after King Cyrus you have Zerubbabel Zerubbabel he was the leader who led the first group from captivity and this group numbered about 50,000 and we see that in chapter 2 if your Bible has a heading there above chapter 2 It might list something like the number of those who are returning and it was a rubable who brought that first wave of Jews back to Israel and then right after Zerubbabel we have Hagia and Zachariah I listed them together because both were prophets and both of them were used after the return of Israel To their homeland they were used to encourage the people to teach the people to correct the people and they were the spiritual leadership when they were rebuilding the temple because when they did go back home It took them quite a while to rebuild and obey all that God wanted them to do and then next there's Darius first He was another Persian king who supported the rebuilding of the temple see when we get into the book You'll notice there are different kings and different individuals listed and it's important for you to understand where they fit into the mix So Darius was another Persian king who did support the rebuilding of the temple just like Cyrus and then last There's our artist arses and he was another Persian king who was favorable to Ezra in the Israelites now The last thing I want to mention is I want to mention the theme and the key doctrine of the book of Ezra Every book of the Bible has a key theme are sometimes there are two or three themes that will run all through The book and I want you to get the theme all through the book the theme is reform spiritual renewal and spiritual revival all through the book it's about the people of God Reforming according to the word of God.

It's about a spirit spiritual renewal within them And it is about a spiritual revival which God brings about in them So they're coming back and they're rebuilding they're rebuilding physically. They're rebuilding spiritually. They are reforming Because they're having to repent of the things that was done Years before and there is a spiritual renewal and ultimately a spiritual revival So although some of those words might not be found the theme is all through the book reform and rebuilding and renewal and Revival and men like Ezra Hagia and Zechariah Taught and led in this reform and renewal as a matter of fact when we study these men many times will be broken-hearted When they saw the people falling back into sin because they themselves were experiencing spiritual renewal now along with this theme there is a key doctrine that is within the book and That key doctrine which is prevalent from verse one all the way to the end is God's sovereignty God's sovereignty God sovereignly protected them all through their Their ordeal of being in slavery God is protecting them And he is providing a way for his people to return back to Israel to begin to rebuild as a nation God sovereign control of the situation is found all Throughout the book now we have the privilege of hindsight We have the privilege of the rest of the story because we know what happens from verse one all the way through to the end Of the book and even on into the book of Nehemiah they did rebuild There was reform They did Adjust themselves to being obedient to what God called them to do But we will see their low points and their high points their sad times as a matter of fact some of the sins that they had Committed which led to them being chastened of God they fell back into So there were ups and downs but all along we will see the doctrine the key doctrine of the sovereignty of God all through the book now there's more historical and and background there's more information which we will begin to see as we progress through the book and I Wanted you to have a broad understanding of what is taking place here because if you have a broad understanding of what's taking place When we start to get into some of the nuts and the bolts and we begin to add some more of the historical context and the theological problems and the sin that's in the lives of the people when that all comes together it'll begin to Form a picture in your mind and your heart about what God is trying to communicate Now if I could assign a theme to chapter 1 it would be this the return of God's people to reveal reveal The return of God's people to reveal we're gonna read all of the chapter here in a moment But I want you to look at verse 3 in chapter 1 Look at verse 3 no matter what translation you have it'll read the same What does it say whoever there is among you of all his people may his God be with him?

Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and reveal the house of the Lord the God of Israel He is the God who is in Jerusalem so what is being communicated here the return of God's people to Reveal and we will see not just to rebuild the temple but to rebuild their lives both physically and Spiritually now truthfully the title of the message comes from that portion of Scripture To be honest with you I labored over that title even till this afternoon because I wanted the title of the message to grab what we're looking at and The title of the message is the return of God's people to Rebuild and that's really what we see the beginning of this work all in chapter 1 So take your Bible and let's some let's read chapter 1 and then we're going to look at Two realities two observations out of chapter 1 that I want us to get So let's look at the beginning of the chapter.

Let's go on down through the chapter together Verse 1 now in the first year of Cyrus King of Persia in Order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and Also putting it in writing saying so you might not realize who was talking in verse 3 But starting in verse 2 notice thus says Cyrus King of Persia The Lord the God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he is anointed or appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah Whoever there is among you of all his people may his God be with him Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord the God of Israel He is the God who is in Jerusalem and every survivor at Whatever place he may live let the men let the men of that place support him with silver and gold and with goods and with Cattle together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem now I want to pause there for a minute and revisit what I said earlier.

This is a pagan unbelieving King But what does it say it says that it was the Spirit of God who moved on him? And why did he do that God did that to fulfill his word and we're going to get into that in a moment verse 5 Then the heads of the fathers of the house Households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem and All those about them encourage them with articles of silver with gold with goods with cattle and with valuables aside from all that was given as a free will offering and also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house Of his gods.

I'm going to pause there when they were overrun Even the temple itself was destroyed and all of the treasures of the temple were taken away by King Nebuchadnezzar verse 8 and Cyrus king of Persia have them brought out by the hand of Meredith the treasure and he counted them out to Shouts Bazaar the Prince of Judah Now this was their number and I'm going to pause there because we see a list all through verse 9 and on down We see a list of all of the goods that came out of the temple that Nebuchadnezzar had taken But I want us to focus on chapter 1 and I want us to focus on truth to truths Two realities two observations in this situation First of all, you see number one the Word of God was central to This work of God the Word of God it was central to this work Which was of God I could put it another way I can say it several different ways It'll help us grasp it God began this work according to his word, which was a fulfillment of his divine plan God initiated this work he made this work come about according to what he had already said and Determined go back to verse 1 now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia in Order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah That is the written Word of God, but notice the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus the king of Persia So there are two things here the written word and then the Spirit of God himself moving According to that written word.

So what do we see God began this work? According to his word, which was a fulfillment of his divine plan now What was his divine plan his divine plan was to have a nation Israel? They were just the descendants of Abraham Isaac and Jacob God had brought them out of slavery to make them into a nation to fulfill his purposes That was his plan now What was the work here?

The work here was that they were to return God's people they were to return back to Jerusalem back to Israel to begin to reveal the people the nation the temple and worship Now I don't know if you're familiar with Ezra and Nehemiah But if you study these two books and you really realize the situation they are going into that was very depressing Do you realize it was all utterly destroyed? The walls of the city were destroyed the temple were destroyed was destroyed homes were destroyed Families taken away.

There was utter destruction and the city and the nation Physically had been laid waste and it had been destitute for 70 years So this was the work they were to return God's people to rebuild the people to rebuild the nation to rebuild the temple and Ultimately to rebuild the worship of the one true God now two things out of this verse.

I want to touch on This was first first this was in fulfillment of God's spoken word I've already mentioned it in verse one, but verse one is mentioning Jeremiah the Prophet Jeremiah Prophesied the return of the Jews after 40 years of exile what that means is before all of these things ever happened Jeremiah said they would happen Jeremiah 25 verse 11 Jeremiah 29 verses 10 through 14 Speak about what is taking place and see what God said he is bringing about He spoke it and it must be fulfilled see God is doing none other than what he said he would do through Jeremiah So the Word of God this was a fulfillment of God's spoken Word he is bringing about what he said he would do suck it This fulfillment was for the people of God This was for the people of God if you go back and you look at what King Cyrus wrote what King Cyrus said Who was it addressed to it was not addressed to his citizens It was addressed to the Jews and this promise was not for the Babylonians Not for the Persians.

It was not for any other people. This was for God's people the Israelites Although they had been laid waste in their homeland and although they have been taken thousands of miles All the way into a pagan nation and been held there in captivity This was for God's people So what we see here is that this work of returning this work of rebuilding This work of reforming was not man's idea But it was God's ultimate plan for him for his people for him to call them unto himself For his purposes which he had already predetermined so the Word of God was central to this work because if you really see it God had said it and So this was in fulfillment of what he had already said the Word of God was central to this work Many of you know me by now in that you know that I want to take and make application of the scriptures We are not Jews and we are not in Babylonian captivity.

There is not a King Cyrus that is over us But we can learn from these scriptures We are not Jews living in that day and time But we are God's people in this day and in this time which we live those of us who were truly born-again Christians So what I want us to see is what is taught here Corresponds to what we see in the New Testament Concerning the church now this very much overlaps what we've been looking at the past two Sunday nights You don't have to turn there you can mark it down or look at it later or just listen But remember the verse that we keyed on in Matthew chapter 16 When Jesus is talking about the church Y'all remember that Peter made a great and wonderful confession in chapter 16 It was the Spirit of God that enabled him to understand who Jesus was and to accurately confess Jesus But what does Jesus do in verse 18 Jesus really changes and Jesus says this Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it This is a review for us But we know that this is the first time this word church is used in the New Testament and that word church means a called out Assembly in the original language.

It's called the ecclesia a called out group and that was used all in That culture in secular application if you had a city council, they were a called out group You see if you had a board who governed a particular business. They were a called out group So that was used all in that culture But Jesus is saying that he will have for himself a church called out ones and they are called out Unto Christ and unto the work to fulfill now notice God's purposes in The Old Testament God's purposes or the nation of Israel called to be a light to the Gentiles now They struggle with that.

Did they not they just could not understand that They were to be a light to the Gentiles because they really swelled up with pride and arrogance thinking they were somebody But now we see in the New Testament that it is the church that has the responsibility Of carrying on his purposes and his kingdom work. We are called we are called to Christ We are called to each other. We are called to this work and we are entrusted.

We have a responsibility We learned this morning in John chapter 9 Jesus communicated in urgency Jesus communicated a responsibility Jesus communicated to the disciples that they had a work to do and it was a short window of time and So what we see is this God's calling those people back to his work in Fulfillment to his word and what we must see is that what we have before us is not your idea It's not my idea. It's not an invention of man.

This is God's plan in fulfillment to God's word And listen, I'll be honest with you I don't want man's ideas I've had plenty of men's ideas through the years and they don't work and they leave you unfulfilled. I Don't want man's opinion on the church now I know that our churches are different some churches are of a did not different denomination and some churches might emphasize certain Theological positions the church has always been flawed The church has always struggled because we are comprised of sinful people.

We will not be perfect till we get on the other side You see but what we have is the institution of the church it belongs to God He has commanded us to take responsibility for this work. It's not an invention of man It's not an idea of man and look we must do this thing God's way According to God's word to fulfill his purposes for his glory That was what the nation of Israel was to do then You might not know it but we get tested along these lines More than you know now your tests might be different than my tests a Lot of lay people will look for a church that will meet their needs a lot of lay people will look for a church for physical reasons Some of those can be good, but many of them can be selfish Ultimately and finally we need a Bible church a biblical church a church where God's working is structured help in a healthy manner Theologically, it's healthy and there are many marks that can determine a good healthy church But ultimately it's got to be a church with the spirits working But we get tested along this line in many different ways I'll share with you how I've been tested This happened years ago.

It's not necessarily something that I've been I've dwelt on but I remembered it this week When I left full-time ministry y'all know that I spent a period of time waiting on direction waiting on what God wanted me to do That was ministry for me, but it was not being involved in vocational ministry like I have been for so long But immediately when I left full-time ministry, I'll never forget in Brookhaven I went make lunch with a particular man and he put me in his car.

We were riding through town I don't really remember where we ate But I remember where we ended up and he drove me down a particular road and he was distraught over some circumstances He'd been through at a church So was I but I'll never forget we rode that right down a road and he pointed at a building and he said I've already Checked on the building. He said I've just had a pretty good business still go through I've got X amount of money and it was a rather large son. He said we can use this money He said it's at our disposal.

Let's rent this building and let's start a church It was tempting But see that wasn't what God had called me to do I Said thank you, but no, thank you. I Had another individual call me younger individual call me and he said, you know, I've checked on rent at this particular building Let's start a church. I said no, that's not what God's called me to do Now am I saying that starting a church is wrong?

No, that's not what I'm saying There are a lot of people that go out and that's a new thing today and they start a church because it's their idea It's their plan this particular church didn't it wasn't their flavor so they go start their own So I'm not against starting a church, but I'm against doing this work of the church man's way under man's guidance and for man's purposes you see and We're all tested in this way And what I'm trying to show us is the nation of Israel were called they were called out of Babylonian Adaptivity to fulfill God's plans according to God's Word.

There was no wiggle room They were to do it God's way they were to be obedient and they were to rebuild a people a nation the temple and worship and We as we approach this thing we is we are Rebuilding here and we are growing here and we're constantly reforming here. We are to do it God's way It's not our work. It's not your work. It's not my work.

It's not brother Keith's work Listen, it does not matter how large we may get this is God's work and we want to do it God's way According to God's Word for his purposes You see and go back to the main truth the word of God was central to this work of God They had to do it according to what God had said And you might say pastor you repeat that a lot It might be that it needs to be repeated It might be that that needs to be repeated and repeated and repeated Because if we're not careful if you give us one bit of slack at centers We will do things our own way now. Let's continue.

I Want you to notice the second main truth and that is the revelation of God was central to this work Was central to this work will go back to Ezra and there there's another verse. I want to touch on verse 5 Now King Cyrus has already said he's already issued the proclamation Addressing it to the the Jews but then notice verse 5 then this is a response then the heads of the fathers of the households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose and Notice even everyone whose spirit that's man spirit whose spirit God had stirred To go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem The second main truth is this the revelation of God's what of God was central to this work the revelation of God was central to this work and that's what we have in verse 5 the revelation of the work of God to men from God God is calling people here.

He is revealing himself to them here in this verse This is an awakening from God about this work and a calling by God to participate In his work, you see this is an awakening. This is a personal calling This is a personal revelation from God and that was central to the work now I Know some people get nervous when you say words like revelation You know, there are a lot of people that claim to have special revelation from God I know my wife and I were talking yesterday.

There's a particular lady that we know in the Brookhaven community She happens to have some very bad doctrine and she was asked to leave because she kept Declaring, you know God spoke to her about this and God spoke to her about that and she went on and on and on Well, she could have had a bad case of spiritual indigestion. I really believe that's what she had That's not what I'm talking about But what we have here is the Spirit of God awakening the Spirit of man To his work and the revelation of God was central to this work And I want to show you how there are two things out of this verse First they had to be obedient to the word.

They had to be obedient to the word What word the written word the prophecies of Jeremiah the word spoken to Jeremiah Have been made real it had been made alive and it had been Applicable for their day and their time. Do you think they knew those prophecies? You better know it Before they had read or they had heard these verses from Jeremiah and it seemed so distant and it seemed probably Possible that that would ever come to be don't you think those Jews prayed for deliverance? Don't you think those elderly Jews who remembered the past glory of the nation?

Don't you think they prayed that those prophecies would come about? but now Because of the work of the Spirit of God with in in conjunction with the prophecies from Jeremiah It was made real it was made alive and it was made made to come to be in their day And in their time you see what does it say? Everyone whose spirit God had stirred the Spirit came and the Spirit Enable them to step up and be obedient to that prophecy Do you know that they if they would have tried to fulfill that prophecy a day early they would have been disobedient But now they are obedient because God had made this alive God had called them to it Second they had to be obedient to this call They had to be obedient to this call.

What does the verse say? Everyone whose spirit whose spirit God had stirred That is a calling in verse 5. That is a calling by God to them God's Spirit had stirred the hearts of the people to go God's Spirit had come and opened up their eyes and called them to engage in this work Now an interesting tidbit of information If you go back and do the math you will know or see that all of the people didn't return There there was a great number who stayed in Babylon Now that's another subject for another day. But what am I showing you?

God stirred certain hearts Most of the people who returned were the poor and they also have their spiritual leadership But when you look at the numbers, you will see the first wave was about fifty thousand plus or minus and the second wave was About two thousand that wasn't all of the Jews This was not all of the Jews. So what do we see here?

Some did not return while there were those who responded to the call and they were Obedient to that call you see They had to be obedient to the word spoken in Jeremiah and they had to be obedient to that personal call And so we must see that these people when they moved when they acted they were being obedient to that personal call to fulfill what God had said Generations prior and that he would bring his people back from Activity you see Now again, I want to make application When we engage in the work of the church when we engage in a work like this God has called Us here God has called us to rebuild and God has called us to reform and God has called us to grow And we are trusting that work to him.

But when we are engaging and we have been engaging in this work We see that there are certain people and God has touched their hearts God's spirit has stirred in their spirit for the work Their eyes have been opened their minds have been enlightened Their hearts have been moved and they have moved their lives. They have brought their families. They have committed their time They have committed their talent. They have committed their lives to this work You see that went on then and that goes on now Now for me I've been saved for Quite a few years.

God saved me in 1989 God called me in the ministry in 1995 and I had to pray for about 11 months not running from that call Working out some details of my life and in 1996 made the decision to go into vocational ministry because God called me and I started in vocational ministry right after I made that That call public in the life of my church But since God saved me God Calling me to be a part of the church has always been real. It's always been alive It's always been vital in my life and it has always been central to my life When I was a layman God called me to my home church Holland Baptist Church and it is where I planted my life.

It is where I planted my heart It is where I planted my time and it became the focal point of my life now prior to my conversion When I stayed out late my parents were worried After I was converted when I stayed out late. They didn't worry. They knew I was at church But as a layman that was a focal point of my life and my heart my spirit had been stirred to plant my life there Well when God called God called me in the vocational ministry, I had opportunities I turned down several But lo and behold God did that same work God stirred in my spirit and God moved me and God called me to First Baptist Church in Ellesville. I Stayed there six years.

I Had opportunities. I prayed over opportunities entertain phone calls But God called me to stay there and then if I continue in my life I can articulate for you how God the Spirit of God stirred within my spirit and God opened up my eyes to his work and God called me each step along the way and In each step along the way whether it was at first Baptist Church Aliceville are moving to Brookhaven and serving at East Haven Baptist Church and then him moving here all Along the way I was being obedient to the call that God had on my life Planting my life in the church Serving the church bringing my family to be a part of wherever God had called me to be and listen If you really just boil it down, this is what I would say The Spirit of God did Is experiential mysterious Unique to me, but the Spirit of God did that in me I've seen friends come and go I've seen ministers make great promises and commitments and fail But I've stayed true by the grace of God And I think a great part of that is not this is not just the persistence the perseverance of God in me But I have not moved unless God's Spirit has moved me And that's what you have here These people picked up their lives in Babylon and traveled in risk their lives They traveled over a thousand miles and they went back to nothing because of the revelation of God in their life Has God done that work to bring you here Has God done that work in you and in your wife your husband and your family to bring you here I Know we're not a large church, but we have seen a few people come and go that's normal I'm always curious as to why people come and go I listen and not every person that leaves is necessarily disobedient I understand that God does call people to leave that's normal and that is natural, but I listen and I watch And you know sometimes people come and go Because their hearts never been stirred and their spirits never been moved to begin with You can't build on those types of people The work of the church the work of gospel ministry Kingdom work that we talked about this morning the the the Urgency to do this work day in and day out year in and year out it will only be shouldered by those who have had this type of work a Revelation of God to the work that God has for ordained see now as I move towards our Conclusion moving out of these verses just two main truths, but that's what we see here in the verse in these verses That's what we see We see just two main things And you might be surprised we see the Word of God being central to this work And then we see the revelation of God moving on people's lives now as I move away from that What am I trying to say?

What am I trying to accomplish? What do I believe God is? calling us to Yes, we're rebuilding I'm thankful that we are rebuilding in a different way than some I've got minister friends They will call me and tell me about some of the problems that they deal with and I'm very thankful I don't have to deal with them I Don't want to sound arrogant for some guys to reform their churches.

They have to tear down a lot I'm thankful for the lean years here the lean years tore down a lot destroyed a lot removed a lot And I've heard some of those who were hanging on Express that but we are rebuilding and we are reforming It's a Pretty in thing these days to be reformed what that means is to be a part of reformed theology That's another sermon for another day The sad thing that I see in that movement is there are a lot of people who were claimed to be reformed, but they are not reformers I Would rather be the latter?

We must be about reforming each other Reforming the church reforming the work Always reforming according to the word isn't that what we saw in the disciples this morning They just had an erroneous mindset. They just they came on the scene. They looked at the blind man and said well who sinned Jesus lovingly corrected them It wasn't his father or mother it wasn't him This was ordained for my purposes.

He just reformed them You see and as we are reforming and as we're rebuilding Listen and as we are the church on the move to be the church that God wants us to be Listen what we need to understand is we're going to do it according to the word of God and we're going to do it because God has moved on our hearts and moved us and changed us and formed us To be a part of that work That's what I'm trying to say now the last thing I'll say is this What they needed as much as anything was the Spirit of God You see it was the Spirit of God that started this thing in that right what do we see?

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia in order to fulfill the word of God the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah the Lord stirred It all started with the Spirit of God The most important thing that we need here is the movement of the wonderful Spirit of God I Learned this in seminary years ago. I remember we had a older professor and Sometimes he would just kick back and look up and say certain things and I remember one day he said boys He always called us boys.

I don't know why He said boys the Pentecostals and Charismatics have made us afraid of the Holy Spirit We can be But that's what we need The Spirit of God to blow through this place the Spirit of God to enable us the Spirit of God to anoint our singing To anoint the teaching the Spirit of God to work in us so we'll come anticipating to be fed of The Lord and to be engaged in God's work the Spirit of God that will enable us to love people Whether they are victims of sin or neck deep in sin the Spirit of God that will enable us to do a work That is greater than us the Spirit of God that will come and that will save lost people that we've been praying for for so long Even lost people that sit in our pews every Sunday the Spirit of God that will enable us to do what we cannot do They couldn't do this Imagine a group of slaves Journeying over a thousand miles back home to nothing and back home to rebuild a nation They couldn't do it, but they did and We can't do this unless the Spirit blows through this place so What do we see the title of the message?

The return of God's people to rebuild now. I haven't given you the title of the series But this is what we're going to hang on to all through this book reform and renewal and God's people I Trust and pray that God is Spoken to you and ministered to you not just this morning, but tonight as well Lord, thank you Thank you that you love me