"Building a Church Through Outreach"
Mixed Emotions
ELCOG 10/28/07
Text: Ezra 3:10-13
This morning I need to set a little foundation of history before I begin the real meat of this sermon. You will remember that Isreal had a series of wicked kings. One of the most wicked was Manasseh. He violated the house of the Lord and the altar of the Lord. He worshipped idols and killed innocent people. He was just one of the many wicked kings. So out of judgment God said that he would judge Jerusalem and that he would wipe them away as one wipes a dish and turns it over to dry. God also spoke to King Josiah about this destruction. Now, King Josiah was a very Godly king and very sorry and repentant of his country’s sin.
2 Kin. 22:15
15And she said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
2 Kin. 22:16
16Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:
2 Kin. 22:17
17Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
2 Kin. 22:18
18But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
2 Kin. 22:19
19Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.
2 Kin. 22:20
20Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
The Lord spoke of His judgment, but because Josiah was righteous he would never see this destruction. He would never experience this exile of his the children of Israel. But on January 15, 588 B.C. the king of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They starved them out of the land. A few months later the temple was burned down and only the poorest were left to take care of the vineyards. Now, I pick up in Ezra years later when the people are starting to come back into their land. This is probably around 538-537 B.C. So, about 50 years have passed. The Children of Israel start settling in their towns again and the burden began for them to rebuild the altar and the temple. They wanted to burn sacrifices on the altar as instructed in the Law of Moses.
Let me ask a question to you this morning, do have a burden to return back and rebuild the altar in your life? We no longer have to sacrifice animals on the altar, but we are called to be a living sacrifice. Our altar requires us to bow a knee to surrender to the power of God and his will in our lives. Our altar requires us to repent of our sin and to turn to God for forgiveness. Our altar requires total submission.
James 4:5
5Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
James 4:6
6But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
James 4:7
7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:8
8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
James 4:9
9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
James 4:10
10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Have you been burden with your life of sin and you need to rebuild the altar?
Have you been exiled out of the land of God because of your past sins, but God has allowed you to come home and now He is convicting you to rebuild the altar. Let me encourage you to rebuild. Start the sacrifices again in your life.
They Rebuilt the altar and celebrated the festival of Shelter. They made sacrifices on the altar and when the festival is complete and the people have experienced the celebration and the sacrifices to God the burden begins to increase. The burden for the altar was great, but now they want more than an altar they want to rebuild the temple of the Lord. The sacrifices that they made increased their burdens.
**In your life the same will be true. When you offer sacrifices to God you can expect him to burden you with more. You will not be satisfied with just yesterday’s altar experiences, but you will want to build a temple to house the presence of God.
In Ezra 3:8 the construction of the temple of God began in mid-spring. The work force was made up of everyone who returned from exile. **Notice that everyone got involved in the process. It takes everyone in a church to really make the building great. It takes all of us to build this house for God. It is not a one man show, but let us all get the burden to build a place to house the presence of God. For if we come to church without the presence of God we are wasting our time. IT is the presence of the Lord that brings us liberty. It is the presence of the Lord that sets us free. It is the presence of the Lord that heals our diseases. We want to be more than an organized social club that has a song or two and a lecture. We want the presence of God to show up in this house and to work His work among his children. Let us be that church that will build a temple to honor our God!
In verse 10 the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s temple and the priest put on their robes and took their places to blow the trumpets. The cymbals were crashed to praise the Lord and with a voice of praise they sang this old familiar song: "He is good! His mercy endures forever, His faithful love endures forever" Then the people gave a great shout praising the Lord because the foundation had been laid.
The people had a reason to worship, the foundation had been destroyed, but today they celebrated its restoration. Their hearts were filled with great joy because they could see results of their hard work.
What a day of great joy. The first stage has been completed. Sometimes you need to stop and celebrate the first stage. Without a solid foundation one can not build the rest of the house.
Look at what the Lord has done in your life and lift your voice in praise. I know that you might not be complete yet, but thank God that you are not what you use to be. I know that there is a lot more work to be done in your life, but aren’t you grateful that the work has begun. Some of you need to raise your hands and lift your voice because the foundation is complete. Sound the trumpets, crash the cymbals, and sing a song of praise because God has started a work…
Phil. 1:6
6Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
John 4:34
34Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Whatever Jesus has started in your life He will finish, so don’t be disappointed at where your life is now. Do not be discouraged with your progress, but rather shout because the foundation has been laid.
Now, let’s look at verse 12…Many of the older priest and Levites, and other leaders didn’t shout, but wept. Why? Why couldn’t they rejoice at the sight? Why couldn’t they celebrate the new foundation? The answer comes in their memory of what use to be. They remembered the first temple and its splendor. They remembered the elegance of the gold and the fancy building that Solomon had built and in their minds this could not compare. They could not celebrate today’s success because of what use to be.
How many people are like that in this service today? They can not celebrate because they remembered what it use to be like. The people have mixed emotions, some worshipped with all their hearts and others wept because they could not get over what use to be. Don’t let the past hinder your praise today. Don’t allow the splendor of the past: the riches, the glory, and the greatness of yesterday to cause you not to see the awesome work of today. Some of these people in our text had great joy while other had great sorrow. I think that sometimes the devil makes us remember too much about what use to be to the point that we can’t rejoice in today.
Psa. 118:24
24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psa. 33:1
1 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
Psa. 33:2
2 Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Psa. 33:3
3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
Psa. 97:12
12 Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
Hab. 3:18
18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Hab. 3:19
19The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
Phil. 4:4
4Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
Phil. 4:5
5Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
Phil. 4:6
6Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Don’t let your praise be hindered because you can’t get over yesterday. This is a new day and God deserves your praise. Let us not have mixed emotions today, but let us be grateful that God is laying a foundation and he is building a temple to live in.