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| Beliefs - Bible Studies Enjoying Your Church and Service to God |
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Church or in their Christian service? Sometimes we seem to be going through
the motions, not really realizing Who we serve. The Book of Ezra gives some
principles to prevent this type of behavior. We all want to be pleasing to God, to
worship Him in a way that is Pleasing.
The Book of Ezra is about restoration. We may not have been doing all that we
should for God, but Ezra tells how we can start today to do that.
Of course we are looking at the Nation Israel. Apostle Paul tells us in 1
Corinthians 10:11 “now all these thing happened unto them for examples; and
they are written for our admonition, upon which the ends of the world are come”
What happened to the Nation Israel or to the individual Jew, it is an example. It
has a spiritual meaning for us to learn. I believe from the Book of Ezra, that
there are some principles which we can follow that will make going to Church
and our Christian walk a much more happy experience.
We read 2 Chronicles 36:16 "but they mocked the messengers of God, and
despised his words and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose
against his people till there was no remedy."
This was a time God sent the Jew into the Babylon captivity.
One of the main reason was disobedience. They were to plant their fields 6
years and let the land rest the 7th year. They did not do this. They also had
idols. We read earlier in Chronicles they had quit supporting the Temple and at
one time it was such a mess with garbage that it took weeks to clean up. We
were told that during cleanup they found the Word of God hidden in the trash.
This a picture today of the Church age we live in.
Only about 15% of Professing Christians are tithing and giving financial support
to the Work of God. SADLY, only 1/3 of professing Christians attend 1 service
per week.
The Bible has been on the best-seller list for many years. Yet it sits on table
tops collecting dust. Christians are not obeying the command to “grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ….” (2 Peter 3:18
We must get back to the basics. Let’s look at some principles to help us.
God promised he would bring the Jews back to the promised land after 70 years.
That time is now in Chapter 1 of Ezra.
1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by
the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus
king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put
it also in writing, saying,
1:2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all
the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at
Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
1:3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him
go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of
Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem
Here we are told that God uses a pagan king to call for the people to go to
Jerusalem to rebuild the house of God. There were over a million Jews in
captivity, but we read in verse 1:9 that only 30,000 of them answered the call.
1:5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the
priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to
build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.
No doubt God dealt with all the Jewish people but only 30,000 answered the call,
and that is typical of our day. In Churches of America a few workers are doing
all the visitation and the work of the Church. God has given every believer
spiritual gifts to be used in His work and service in the Church, but few are
exerting those Gifts. Some of the reasons they are not is given in this book
In the promised Land, the Jews were shepherds, but in captivity, a lot of them
had become storekeepers and business people. And, they had been
successful. They did not want to leave what they had going to go rebuild the
temple. This was going to be hard work in a dangerous land.
They were too comfortable. That’s one reason the work of the Lord goes
undone today. People love their lives - they love the things of the world - they
are comfortable. It’s not easy to visit the sick, the bereaved, to do the work of
God. It takes an effort. We need to remember Matthew 6:33
“but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these thing
shall be added unto you.”
To the Jews credit we are told a lot of them did give to this cause. They were not
willing to go do the work but they were willing to help support the effort.
1:6 And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of
silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all
that was willingly offered.
Lets look at the principle we are looking to learn.
Chapter 3, the ones going to rebuild the Temple are now in the Land.
3:4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily
burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day
required;
3:5 And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons,
and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one
that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.
3:6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings
unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.
What are the Jews doing here? They are worshipping God. The first principle to
understand is the word worship. If we can understand that word, it will help in
adding joy to our service.
(I have an 1823 Webster dictionary which has more scripture and application
than any dictionary you can find. Webster was a great Christian)
To worship means to adore, to pay diving honor to, to reverence with supreme
respect and veneration.
Now with my limited vocabulary I had to look up the work veneration and its great
too. This word means the Highest degree of respect and reverence, respect
mingled with some degree of awe, a feeling of sentiment excited by the
sacredness of His character.
If Christians could just remember who we serve. The Creator of all things. Our
God is All powerful, All knowing. He’s Everywhere. If we can remember who we
serve when we come to Church and forget all our petty problems and attitudes,
we can start really enjoying our Church service.
Point 2 is come to worship with a thankful heart.
In verse 3:4 "they kept also the feast of tabernacles…”
What is this feast about? Its about being thankful for what God has done for
you.
*Thankful that God opened our blind eyes and caused us to realize that Jesus is
the Son of God.
*Thankful that He called us
*Thankful that He saved by His grace
*Thankful that He has blessed us with all spiritual blessing for the sake of
Christ.
*Thankful He adopted us into the family of God. We are children of God.
*Thankful He forgave us of our sins.
If we can remember all God has done for us, we cannot help but be thankful.
That was always one of the downfalls of the Nation Israel: they forgot what God
had done for them. Let us never forget what He has done for us.
Verse 3:10 “and the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord…”
Here’s our 3rd point. We must have the right Foundation, and of course, that
Foundation is Jesus. This tells us also we need our Bible Study. If we are in the
Word studying so that we can show ourselves approved unto God, we will have
the right foundation. We will be learning of God. We will growing as a Christian,
and becoming more like Him. This will make it enjoyable for you.
Look at
3:11 and they sang together by course to praising (WORSHIP) and giving
thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever
toward Israel. (THANKFUL HEART, AND LOOK AT THE RESULTS)
And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord
because the foundation of the house was laid.
All these things produce Joy. We can come to Church and enjoy it,
Worshipping God, being thankful, prayed up, and studied up.
Let’s look at one final point that will help us achieve our goal.
12: But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were
ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house
was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for
joy:
Here we see some of the older people were weeping over the first house.
This is talking about King Solomon and the magnificent Temple he built. They
were remembering the glory of days since past, and no doubt, were sad that
those days were gone. A lot of times in our Churches we hear, “if we could only
get back to those old days when the Churches on fire.”
Now its ok to look and be thankful for what all our forefathers have done for us. I
attend Lilly’s Chapel FWB, and we have air conditioning, nice padded pews, a
great sound system, all the conveniences. And, I had nothing to do with
obtaining them. I am just reaping the benefits of Saints of the past, and I am
thankful to them, as we should be. But you know if I live in the past, then I will
miss my Future. And here’s the principle.
I may not have done much in the service of God in the past. I may not have
been true to my calling, but I can start today to do what God would have me to
do. Forget your past failures, repent of them and ask God to use you.
Look at what Paul said in Philippians 3:13, 14
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus.
What’s the high calling of God. It’s for us to be like Christ.
Four points to make our Christian’s lives happier:
1.) worship
2) thankful heart
3.) on the foundation
4.) look to the future.
Then you read the results in 3:12b, 13
12.……..when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with
a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
13 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the
noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout,
and the noise was heard afar off.
These people were on fire for God. Our Lord and Savior is worthy and
deserves the very best we can do for Him. He has done so much for us.
Prayer: Our heavenly Father, we bow before in awe of your great love for us, of
your great power to deliver us. God, I pray that you will touch our hearts, and
teach us to submit to you. Lord, as we come to worship, let us come with the
right spirit of worship and with a thankful heart, truly resting on our foundation
and focused on you, truly trusting in Christ Jesus. We pray that though we have
failed you the in past, God, we ask you to forgive and use us to be the witness
you want us to be. To your glory and honor. We thank you, and we praise your
Holy Name.
In Jesus Name we pray.
- Roy Patterson - email comments or questions to roypatterson@multipro.com
August 2003
the motions, not really realizing Who we serve. The Book of Ezra gives some
principles to prevent this type of behavior. We all want to be pleasing to God, to
worship Him in a way that is Pleasing.
The Book of Ezra is about restoration. We may not have been doing all that we
should for God, but Ezra tells how we can start today to do that.
Of course we are looking at the Nation Israel. Apostle Paul tells us in 1
Corinthians 10:11 “now all these thing happened unto them for examples; and
they are written for our admonition, upon which the ends of the world are come”
What happened to the Nation Israel or to the individual Jew, it is an example. It
has a spiritual meaning for us to learn. I believe from the Book of Ezra, that
there are some principles which we can follow that will make going to Church
and our Christian walk a much more happy experience.
We read 2 Chronicles 36:16 "but they mocked the messengers of God, and
despised his words and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose
against his people till there was no remedy."
This was a time God sent the Jew into the Babylon captivity.
One of the main reason was disobedience. They were to plant their fields 6
years and let the land rest the 7th year. They did not do this. They also had
idols. We read earlier in Chronicles they had quit supporting the Temple and at
one time it was such a mess with garbage that it took weeks to clean up. We
were told that during cleanup they found the Word of God hidden in the trash.
This a picture today of the Church age we live in.
Only about 15% of Professing Christians are tithing and giving financial support
to the Work of God. SADLY, only 1/3 of professing Christians attend 1 service
per week.
The Bible has been on the best-seller list for many years. Yet it sits on table
tops collecting dust. Christians are not obeying the command to “grow in the
grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ….” (2 Peter 3:18
We must get back to the basics. Let’s look at some principles to help us.
God promised he would bring the Jews back to the promised land after 70 years.
That time is now in Chapter 1 of Ezra.
1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by
the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus
king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put
it also in writing, saying,
1:2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all
the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at
Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
1:3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him
go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of
Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem
Here we are told that God uses a pagan king to call for the people to go to
Jerusalem to rebuild the house of God. There were over a million Jews in
captivity, but we read in verse 1:9 that only 30,000 of them answered the call.
1:5 Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the
priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to
build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.
No doubt God dealt with all the Jewish people but only 30,000 answered the call,
and that is typical of our day. In Churches of America a few workers are doing
all the visitation and the work of the Church. God has given every believer
spiritual gifts to be used in His work and service in the Church, but few are
exerting those Gifts. Some of the reasons they are not is given in this book
In the promised Land, the Jews were shepherds, but in captivity, a lot of them
had become storekeepers and business people. And, they had been
successful. They did not want to leave what they had going to go rebuild the
temple. This was going to be hard work in a dangerous land.
They were too comfortable. That’s one reason the work of the Lord goes
undone today. People love their lives - they love the things of the world - they
are comfortable. It’s not easy to visit the sick, the bereaved, to do the work of
God. It takes an effort. We need to remember Matthew 6:33
“but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these thing
shall be added unto you.”
To the Jews credit we are told a lot of them did give to this cause. They were not
willing to go do the work but they were willing to help support the effort.
1:6 And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of
silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all
that was willingly offered.
Lets look at the principle we are looking to learn.
Chapter 3, the ones going to rebuild the Temple are now in the Land.
3:4 They kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily
burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of every day
required;
3:5 And afterward offered the continual burnt offering, both of the new moons,
and of all the set feasts of the LORD that were consecrated, and of every one
that willingly offered a freewill offering unto the LORD.
3:6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings
unto the LORD. But the foundation of the temple of the LORD was not yet laid.
What are the Jews doing here? They are worshipping God. The first principle to
understand is the word worship. If we can understand that word, it will help in
adding joy to our service.
(I have an 1823 Webster dictionary which has more scripture and application
than any dictionary you can find. Webster was a great Christian)
To worship means to adore, to pay diving honor to, to reverence with supreme
respect and veneration.
Now with my limited vocabulary I had to look up the work veneration and its great
too. This word means the Highest degree of respect and reverence, respect
mingled with some degree of awe, a feeling of sentiment excited by the
sacredness of His character.
If Christians could just remember who we serve. The Creator of all things. Our
God is All powerful, All knowing. He’s Everywhere. If we can remember who we
serve when we come to Church and forget all our petty problems and attitudes,
we can start really enjoying our Church service.
Point 2 is come to worship with a thankful heart.
In verse 3:4 "they kept also the feast of tabernacles…”
What is this feast about? Its about being thankful for what God has done for
you.
*Thankful that God opened our blind eyes and caused us to realize that Jesus is
the Son of God.
*Thankful that He called us
*Thankful that He saved by His grace
*Thankful that He has blessed us with all spiritual blessing for the sake of
Christ.
*Thankful He adopted us into the family of God. We are children of God.
*Thankful He forgave us of our sins.
If we can remember all God has done for us, we cannot help but be thankful.
That was always one of the downfalls of the Nation Israel: they forgot what God
had done for them. Let us never forget what He has done for us.
Verse 3:10 “and the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord…”
Here’s our 3rd point. We must have the right Foundation, and of course, that
Foundation is Jesus. This tells us also we need our Bible Study. If we are in the
Word studying so that we can show ourselves approved unto God, we will have
the right foundation. We will be learning of God. We will growing as a Christian,
and becoming more like Him. This will make it enjoyable for you.
Look at
3:11 and they sang together by course to praising (WORSHIP) and giving
thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever
toward Israel. (THANKFUL HEART, AND LOOK AT THE RESULTS)
And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord
because the foundation of the house was laid.
All these things produce Joy. We can come to Church and enjoy it,
Worshipping God, being thankful, prayed up, and studied up.
Let’s look at one final point that will help us achieve our goal.
12: But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were
ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house
was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for
joy:
Here we see some of the older people were weeping over the first house.
This is talking about King Solomon and the magnificent Temple he built. They
were remembering the glory of days since past, and no doubt, were sad that
those days were gone. A lot of times in our Churches we hear, “if we could only
get back to those old days when the Churches on fire.”
Now its ok to look and be thankful for what all our forefathers have done for us. I
attend Lilly’s Chapel FWB, and we have air conditioning, nice padded pews, a
great sound system, all the conveniences. And, I had nothing to do with
obtaining them. I am just reaping the benefits of Saints of the past, and I am
thankful to them, as we should be. But you know if I live in the past, then I will
miss my Future. And here’s the principle.
I may not have done much in the service of God in the past. I may not have
been true to my calling, but I can start today to do what God would have me to
do. Forget your past failures, repent of them and ask God to use you.
Look at what Paul said in Philippians 3:13, 14
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus.
What’s the high calling of God. It’s for us to be like Christ.
Four points to make our Christian’s lives happier:
1.) worship
2) thankful heart
3.) on the foundation
4.) look to the future.
Then you read the results in 3:12b, 13
12.……..when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with
a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
13 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the
noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout,
and the noise was heard afar off.
These people were on fire for God. Our Lord and Savior is worthy and
deserves the very best we can do for Him. He has done so much for us.
Prayer: Our heavenly Father, we bow before in awe of your great love for us, of
your great power to deliver us. God, I pray that you will touch our hearts, and
teach us to submit to you. Lord, as we come to worship, let us come with the
right spirit of worship and with a thankful heart, truly resting on our foundation
and focused on you, truly trusting in Christ Jesus. We pray that though we have
failed you the in past, God, we ask you to forgive and use us to be the witness
you want us to be. To your glory and honor. We thank you, and we praise your
Holy Name.
In Jesus Name we pray.
- Roy Patterson - email comments or questions to roypatterson@multipro.com
August 2003