Live as a Person of the Word
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Intro: Ezra the World-Shaker
Intro: Ezra the World-Shaker
Today we come onto the scene and we finally get to the point when Ezra goes to Jerusalem. Over half the book is gone, and the namesake finally packs up and makes his way over to Jerusalem from Babylon.
He came with one purpose in mind and with plenty of his people following him. He was going to help the Jews understand why they were there and what they were to do: glorify God.
Ezra’s message would set the stage for the world to be changed. Where Israel had forgotten their main purpose, Ezra was set to help them get it right. And through his delivery of God’s Word, the Temple would be a place where God’s Word was taught and applied, and from there, God’s world-changing message of grace and salvation through Jesus would be realized and made known.
Know God’s Word
Know God’s Word
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
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One of the most remarkable things we see about Ezra is his love and ever-expanding want for knowledge of God’s Word.
His role as a teacher of God’s Word came up out of knowing God’s Word.
God’s Word birthed a change in Ezra, which birthed a change in his people, which birthed a change in his city, then a nation, and finally to birth a change in the history of the world forever.
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Christian, do you believe in the transformative power of God’s Word?
Do you believe that the Bible has the ability to change your life? To make you a whole person? To birth a change in you that subsequently changes the world around you?
This is the power of God’s Word. It never returns void to Him. But you have to come to His Word in the first place for it to ever have an effect on you! I fear many of us may not be effective Christians because we don’t give God’s Word its due honor.
We were eating dinner Friday night at a restaurant in Rome, and, of course, someone had to remark on our baby. People get funny when you have a baby. But anyway, a man is walking by, “Oh, so cute,” you know, and then he says, “You and mommy won’t get along so well when you turn 13, will you?” We laughed, right? Then he says, “Hey, if you stop feeding her, she’ll stop growing and she’ll stay that cute forever!”
Yeah, babies are cute, but I want to wake up someday at Not-5-AM.
And listen, here’s the thing. We want babies to stay little because we want to continue to possess them. We want their easy love and affection that they dole out because they trust and adore us. We don’t want to see them develop and become their own persons because we no longer have that control, and that’s what gets a lot of parents and children at odds with one another. Teenager wants to take being their own person beyond the bounds their parents have set up, and some parents hold their boundaries a little too tight, stifling the development of the child. Ultimately, the parent is the one who has to decide.
That’s beside the point. Christians, you need to develop. You need to take steps toward growth. Knowing God’s Word is a big step in that direction.
Objections to studying the Bible:
I don’t have time
It’s so outdated
I’d rather do something else
Can’t you just teach it to me?
Isn’t it full of errors?
You Bible people limit God.
The answer to all these objections? You must not believe the power and authority of God’s Word over your life!
I know this isn’t every Christian. Many in here are saying, “Okay, Pastor, I get it, and I AM in God’s Word daily! How can I know God’s Word better?” A few strategies to deepen your study:
Study expositionally. Learn and read a whole book at a time. Read a letter of Paul in one sitting. Don’t just get one verse and move on with your life. Sometimes God moves us to just do one. Our devotionals are just a few scriptures at a time, that’s okay. But if you want to LEARN God’s Word and KNOW it, you have to get a sense of what the whole of God’s Word is getting at. How can you do that with a verse here and there?
Study the whole Bible. One of the first things I did as a Christian was print out a checklist of all of the books of the Bible. The checklist wasn’t just a “hey, I wanna get this done,” but it was a way for me to keep track of how much Bible I had read. Plus, if you want to know the Bible, you’ve got to read all of it.
Utilize trusted resources. Don’t just say, “Well, I guess I’ll never understand the Bible” and move on… The Bible was meant to be understood, and sometimes we have to do a little digging to uncover the meaning. Don’t forget that God uses His church as a means to edify you. Commentaries, written by your true siblings in Christ, are a part of that.
What’s most important is that you are getting the Word of God. Some of you need to simply start getting into God’s Word on a regular basis. If you’re not ready for daily, start with a commitment to 3 times a week and work from there.
The modern church has lost focus on the power and criticality of God’s Word. Voddie Baucham: “The modern church is producing passionate people with empty heads who love the Jesus they don’t know very well.”
Live God’s Word
Live God’s Word
And there went up also to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, some of the people of Israel, and some of the priests and Levites, the singers and gatekeepers, and the temple servants. And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him.
I make a decree that anyone of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom, who freely offers to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.
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Ezra wasn’t just a poindexter with all of the answers, however. He was a man who sought to live out, faithfully, the Word that he knew.
Notice something about Old Testament faith with me for just a moment. You know, it’s not said very often in the Old Testament, “so and so was a person of faith.” They didn’t have to advertise what faith was. Ezra followed God. He displayed his faith in the Lord through his actions. When he left Babylon to go to Jerusalem, it was an act of belief and trust in the almighty God. The Jews’ faith was displayed by their obedience to God.
And so too, the Israelites who followed him displayed their faith as well.
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There’s something lost on us about faith from the Old Testament. Romans tells us about Abraham’s faith being credited to him… deposited in his account, so to speak, as righteousness. What was Abraham’s faith? Did he say, “I believe in God!”? No, it wasn’t what he said, as much as what he did. This is why Paul claims what he does about his faith. Because his actions showed a faith in God.
It’s been said many times that if you don’t understand your Old Testament, you’ll lack understanding in your New Testament. This is true, and it’s one of the ways we become deficient in our understanding of faith. Faith starts as a cognitive switch, develops as a heart’s cry, and finishes as a hand’s work.
Some of you may have never heard the Good News before. Or maybe you’ve heard it a lot, but have yet to trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior… This is where the first transfer from mind to heart goes. Hearing the Good News and trusting it.
We are to be, with everything that we are, people of the Word of God. This means our minds, our hearts, and our actions.
I had lunch with another pastor the week before, and he made two statements that were very profound to me: “If you’re not doing anything that requires faith, you won’t see God show up.” and “If you won’t be obedient to the Word of God, you hinder the activity of God in your life.”
Share God’s Word
Share God’s Word
For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.
“And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach. Whoever will not obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be strictly executed on him, whether for death or for banishment or for confiscation of his goods or for imprisonment.”
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Ezra knew something profound about the Word of God. Ezra’s life had been so shaped and formed by the Word of the Lord, he couldn’t keep it to himself. He knew it wasn’t just good for him… It was good for everyone!
So he took his love for the Word and sought to help his people understand, love, and apply God’s Word.
You’ll notice Artaxerxes’ passion here for making sure the people of God were obedient to the Word of God. This isn’t a biblical command, but a command from Artaxerxes. Why would a pagan king do such a thing? This is a form of divine flattery on this King’s part.
Explain regional divinity ideas.
Since Artaxerxes was king over these many areas, he wanted the blessing of all these “gods” which included the One True God. So for the Jews to pray for Artaxerxes was part and parcel of the deal.
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While we probably shouldn’t follow the harshness of Artaxerxes’ command, which was based more in his insecurities as a king than anything else, we can learn from Ezra’s zeal to share the word. The king wasn’t zealous for God as much as he was zealous for getting every advantage he could…
Think about it. Has the Word of God proven good and true for your life? Then isn’t it worth sharing?
Think about the last thing you learned from God’s Word. It can be something from this morning or something over the last few weeks, but pick something recent. I’ll give you a minute to think about it.
Now share that with the person you’re sitting with or someone close-by.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So, Christian, what is your next step? Are you in the Word daily? Great. Are you living out the Word daily? Great. Are you sharing the wisdom and Good News of God’s Word?
Or, if you’re not a believer, today is a great day to come to know the Lord your God…