Worship In the Rubble

Rachel also returned so Howdy to everyone across all of our campuses in Raleigh-Durham. I was going to say thank you for being here, but let's face it, the only reason you're not here because we couldn't afford it. We can at the beach so we are broken sinners and were also broke so I my name is rebel and I've been attending the cemetery for nearly 9 years now.

The last seven of those years I've been serving you in different things today serve you as one of your direction. Elders also one of your pastors who are Spanish campus. If you ever want a cross cultural experience and save the travel money come down and that to one of our services. We really do have 10 to 15 countries represented at each gathering there. So you're always always welcome to come. I want to make a quick confession today. I was tasked over a month ago a bit over a month ago by our leadership to preach on Ezra, and I confess that I tried everything to get out of it because well you know was last time you hurt somebody for Jeanette Strauss house like you and I got average in the miasma the same book you know it.

I don't know. I always get angry passages about really.

It has been a challenge, but at the same time make. I see the beauty and the grace and the sovereignty of God operating a beautiful way and it is the word of God and the word of God is enough and we have the Holy Spirit which we depend on will be preaching from Ezra Romans, so why don't we see God in prayer today. We need to hear from the Lord in a world that's a longing for restoration sled is about heads and spray. Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your precious word. All of it.we pray that you will shed light on our souls today, we pray that you will bring conviction bring consolation as well follow. Even though this is a message for your people for the church. I pray that in the mysterious and powerful ways of your word if there's someone wrestling with the faith as I did for years that they would know today that hope and security is found found in Christ alone.

I pray this in your name. Amen. Interjection with dresser with me in the context of Ezra's plea much. This is it's about the restoration of God's people. After a long exile. It's also about the rebuilding of God's altar. I'm back in the year 587 for Christ.

The Babylonians completely destroyed Jerusalem after a 30 minute month see each state they literally brought the place down to the ground. They destroyed the temple and they took God's people to exile hundreds of miles away.

Besides the fall. One could say that this is the low point in all of the Old Testament is as is as if God had turn his back on his people of your had the feeling you're going to retry yourself and it or you're witnessing something that's this terrible Internet and a culture or in a people group in an and you like God, you know that that you know I just feel like you're absent, you know, I've had a child personal trial of mind that lasted 10 years.

I really felt like God was in Cancún drinking a margarita absent for my breakers and I like God where are you, but then we get to the book of Esther and we read that a new king to power as you see, God is always in control. He's the one who puts people in authority for his glory and disking. I allowed God's people to return home. Can you imagine the excitement of the people of God who have been in exile for years. Now we can go back home to God's people walked for four months and they finally stood in the rubble of Jerusalem. Now they were desperate to be back home. Understanding in front of a lot of work that needs to be done to rebuild and what you think is the first thing they did, you would think that no applicable shovel. You would think that there somebody else will pick up a broom and it will start cleaning that it was removing debris and start building right away right wrong for three months. They did nothing.

They just got their bearings back there sometimes in life are the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap is just be still and know that he's got a meditate on God's goodness and just do nothing. After three months of the whole is month of the year they came together and stood in the rubble of Jerusalem or the Temple once stood and they worshiped re-with me. What happened is found in Ezra chapter 3 verse one when the seventh month came of the children of Israel were the towns, the people gather us one meant to Jerusalem then arose – are the son of Joseph that with his fellow priests and through about the son of she tilt with his kinsmen and they built the altar off the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings on it as it is written in the law of Moses. The men of God.

They said the altar in its place. The rest of the chapter describes what happened later as the redistributed corporate worship and prayer to God.

Asked first and foremost, but first let me ask your question. If you return home. In those circumstances.

With everything in Roy's around you. Why would you make the first thing that you did to worship God. It suggests that there were primitive and superstitious people I didn't know any better, or just something deeper here that we need to know why. Why would they do is right with everything around them lying in rubble's why would they devote so much energy to restoring corporate worship to God as the people of God. You see, this is were charismatics get it right.

By the way the rest of the chapter is as charismatic as the stars medical services C. Don't read it yet.

Check with me, but there is a reason worship to God was first and the reason is this that you and I are going to worship something I need you going to be what we have deemed in our minds is ideal for us.

What we have convinced ourselves or concluded.

We most need or God. That's what they moved so quickly to worship God because they understood that if they didn't worship God, they would end up worshiping idols instead how old-school we think sometimes to see this picture of downline in this rubble is just worshiping God and we think that that's just old-school but the reality is that in years in exile. Judah was surrounded by hundreds of idols everywhere they turned, they were confronted with every kind of idle but at least acknowledge that and they saw the only two choices as either worship idols worship God. It's binary.

It's simple.

I wonder sometimes it was really happening in our country is that you are neither church thinks that we have our eyes on Jesus, but in reality we have.

Her eyes on personal goals and personal agendas because it's so easy for a believer for Christ Church to have her eyes on being influential rather than on Christ is easy to have rise on this world and not the one to come. It's easy to have her eyes on the ideal government.

The ideal economy. The ideal family that you'll get the ideal family beach house.

The ideal retirement the ideal ministry and what's next and have your eyes completely off of Jesus.

As you and I are so preoccupied with self and upward mobility. Even as the people of God, the church, I am not against progress and success for reasons I love this country. I am not against progress and success, but there is a profound difference between the self-centered falls on vision, ambition for success and influence and the true ambition to love and serve started with God. It's the difference between trying to raise ourselves up on trying to lift up Jesus and our fellow human beings is so easy to have Verizon ourselves asked if we could provide more satisfaction on us from God and listen.

It's easy, it's easy to pray daily to Jesus for something you love more than Jesus. What we daydream about gives it away. We left to be exalted rather than God. We will do so using Jesus if we have to. So many times I know I've done it. The gospel is never been about pulling for ourselves is surrendering yourself given up your life that you might find it in the one who is life.

Jesus Christ, so we read this. We see this picture, we see the rubble's weaving while there were so old-school we are way more sophisticated and that but not really because to worship God. Last is not much of an advancement to pray and fast and see Scott seek God's face only after you've tried everything else. It's actually backwards. Not for progress. There's a lot of things that will that that will occupy us as believers that are nothing more than the fruit of our doing and are doing without praying first and now we have to spend our time and energy on damage control and dealing with things we had choir that God never intended to give us. There was a book review a few years ago by the New York Times.

It was called dog blue call Easter everywhere.

It's about this for the journey of a woman named Dorsey who lives in Brooklyn, and the book describes some of the belongings of her life in the New York Times writer captures in his review.

The heart of the buggy. The aha moment for this woman. He says she knows the central question of her memoir on behalf of her life with an extraordinary quote from Simon well. One has only the choice between God and idolatry. He wrote it.

One denies God one is worshiping some things of this world and the belief that one sees them only as such but not really. In fact, the only known to oneself.

We are imagining the attributes of divinity in those things. In other words, we have a longing for transcendence. We tend to look at something and we sometimes without even realizing it.

We imagine those things to have the all the beauty of the work that in reality, in reality, only God can deliver on the reason why videogames and breathtaking views on Instagram are so popular is because we find in them the transcendence that our hearts is longing for it momentarily takes us out of the reality of our broken sinful self and of our broken world as we are wired to find eternal significance in something I will give every fiber of our beings to someone or something or cause whatever that thing is we will warship and you may not call it worship, but something is at the center of your life is that one thing that makes everything else okay.

The one thing that you can imagine living without the one thing that if threatened he would crush your entire world. The only question is whether we were square worshiping those creative things or God. An extra three promises that that true restoration that the true clenching of the all that we are always seeking to find that the true clenching of our long game starts when we first worship God above all things and is not on this road to get any better. I do wish this will be a little better when I leave it and when I came into about church is very possible, very possible to love this world so much that you live fixed to this world and you live in order to fix this world to see a perfect and missed the fact believer that this is not our home, how we see forget that that's with everything on this side of heaven. That little mini accidents of the people of God and estrogen return home they quickly realize that what they had transferred asked home here wasn't really home in the words of Pastor Keller.

All the many Exodus and many homecomings of the Bible failed in the end to deliver the final on full homecoming.

The prophets promised and everyone long for. I kind of spiritual homesickness resizing every heart that we experience redemption and forgiveness in this life through Christ. Amen we still long runway for full restoration. Romans 823 so they returned to to to Jerusalem was was really bittersweet for God's people.

Because yes, they were rejoicing and that will celebration in the city, but the was also a sense that things still wearing as they should be. There was a sense that he wasn't home and that that that remained a beloved church. We are supposed to experience this. We are supposed to feel this way regardless of what those cute of their cute little and see maps or say all this world is not our home, if you so I love this world that you really think everything you need is here, you have believed the dilution the redeemed in Renton. We long for full redemption full restoration in SI gives a picture of that especially his third chapter, and it offers a picture, a picture of what our weight should look like. As we long and weigh forgot to settle things right so let me share about that weight a little bit. According to Ezra 3, number one, we must seek unity. Verse one. If you been reading the Bible with us, you probably frustrated by because it is a few the people of God have been at odds with each other and as you been reading the Bible with us.

Then, when we read verse one here on Ezra 3 issue be an immense refreshment to you should be refreshing because verse one says that the people gather as one man to Jerusalem this are the people that were divided. This is that the people had gone out war with each other that the northern and southern kingdom, Israel and Judah.

And now they are united as one man this is this is awesome as we await for full redemption. We must be unified as a church. Jesus promised that he will build his church a man, but he prayed that his charge will be United John 17 he will build a go to church, but we must strive to remain as one, and this is why the apostle Paul constantly stressed out our obligation to one another love one another, serve one another.

Forgive one another, we must remain unified as we long for full restoration. There's a beautiful picture of you and I of the church of Jesus Christ in first Corinthians 12 where Paul uses the word body using the analogy of our physical bodies 18 times in only nine versus to talk about the church, the body of Christ. What's with the repetition, what's what. Scott's point, but in the same way you wouldn't want to separate any member of your physical body out of your body that the church needs to be worn in one body, and yes and ear looks very different than a tall, but one is not more important than the other. You want them both on this body is unified as one connected by one head Christ does the body worship for it other is automatic.

So what I want to do. I will give an example. Hopefully this kind of play as local slow-motion video for you according to what is the body, according to Scriptures essay you have our finger because you thought you were Mr. DUI. You don't humble yourself, you need somebody letting go help Yahweh to want to call me, all right, you can build up regular by yourself, body, and so let's say you have our finger the finger talk of the brain is as a brain. I have a problem here I'm hurting. I need you to tell her mouth to let everybody know that I'm writing on here because this fully pregnant with a hammer. Now the brain doesn't object is.

I hope you the brain you need any meetings the princes yeah absolutely I help you.

So the brain tells her mouth to mouth this man. I have the fingers and then his hurting. I praise about had it with a hammer.

The eyes coming as a gastritis on I'm talking the method remembering so you saw the mountains that look I did you let everybody know in the world that the fingers hurting. I know was the middle finger in needed to be back. But listen, where one body, where one body, so help them out the mouth. Sure, I'll do it.

The mouth is always obedient is and so the mouth screams the ear hears is ahead. He said this Craig not to curse the mouth is. Listen, he hung the finger occurs a little bit when you have rendered judgment but here's the thing here.

What happens now is screams and moved his hand, who is why I is not that big a hammer is that within the hammer of it comes immediately and drops everything and he comes to soon and he comes to help and he comes to help the body to aid the body with consolation and unity. It doesn't matter which member of the body.

It is if it's an ugly looking total, or if it's beautiful eyes to the body. All the body and every body is beautiful because they're all made in the image of these habits immediately. There's a reason why Paul chooses to use his analogy of the human body over and over, over and over describe the church's habits immediately with no partiality and no questions asked. Because the church is supposed to be one connected in Christ.

The charges for God and for each other and the only reason I have is churches because the body is connected and that the body wasn't connected. If the finger had ran away from the church from the body he would never had any help. I know we have some hot topics in culture today. But listen, you don't need to leave the church, you need to bring the church you need to abide in Jesus, and Ezra says we do it better by first worshiping together seeking God's face to worship evening the Robles because the God of the Robles is also the God of restoration is in the church is not a company I know we are in Raleigh-Durham is a great business sector, but the church is not a company.

The church is not a robot. Is that a highly organized organization, but a living organism through the power of the Holy Spirit is true that a robot is highly organized is true. It got up thousand parts and is highly organized. I'll give you that but is dead. It doesn't have any power of its own power and an organism is living and he gives witness we overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Yes, and by the power of our testimony oneness in Christ leads people to Christ if you're going to rebuild and alter in this land of her rubble. We must become less one men verse one and worship God and seek the face of got together before we do anything else. I want to remind teachers that our battle is not against flesh and blood. Our battle is not against the people group our battle is not against our brother or sister, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this H, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

You cannot fight a spiritual battle with human weapons.

You can't. You can't. We need divine intervention.

We need the Lord to be the church of Jesus Christ. And that's what we worship and we pray that when you walk in the spirit praying without ceasing to God throughout the day worshiping, worshiping, washing confuses the enemy worship to God makes what you have as little as it may be enough. That's why Paul says we need to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and what captive means it doesn't mean all tell your thoughts of this unity and and lust to please leave your mind. No disease. We need to take our thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

The spirit of God, that raised Christ from the dead. Liz and dwells in you is true, that is after the flesh, are many that are against the will of God. I have the same flesh that you do. I wrestle the same flesh in its fighting against the will of God and against unity and every against everything pure, but God spirit is in you eye doctor also fights the flesh so that Galatians 3 says we don't do what we want to got wants to restore his altering you in the flesh is not greater than God spirit for there to be corporate worship church there needs to be corporate repentance. If my people?

Which are called by my name would humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I assess the Lord hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land ball you will need some healing in his land.

It starts by rebuilding the Aalto altar.

As for three style church to worship and prayer and repentance first, and above all. So what divisions you see in your heart towards others is a matter of your white, African-American and Latino, Asian, Native American, we are called to a higher calling one in Christ. Number two, we must walk in obedience versus 26 we often confuse grace with a free pass to disobey God left sound that beamed at least a safe yeah I thought I wanted that usual good at it like what on an area the holy Bible says be faithful unto death, and I'll give you the crown of life is time to seek the face of God and one of things we see the returning exiles do is offer sacrifices to the Lord, the all and a worth of the Lord was was in them all. And if you notice closely versus 25.

They were very careful to offer the sacrifices exactly according to how the word command that we have a guiding word, the fruit of your lips as pretty as it may sound is in vain. If the heart is not worshiping what good is it to you. If you have a tremendous amount of giftedness, but a lack of character absent from this fruit of the spirit of God, I'm not impressed with people that are used by got we see in Matthew seven people that were used by God mightily, and they spend eternity without Christ. I'm impressed with people that display the fruit of the spirit, love and patience and kindness and joy in faith and meekness, long-suffering worship starts with the right posture over harsh towards God and of love towards your fellow brother and sister who your worshiping with their time in exile was a constant reminder of the idolatry and rebellion that brought God's judgment. They were not going to make the same mistake again way for God to renewal things and bring about full restoration. The temptation to disobey remains, and Jesus warned his followers not to grow weary as they waited for his return. Luke 21.

Many will grow tired of seeking and obeying the Lord. Some will even depart from the faith by giving into the world of yours first Timothy four second theme of the force. Well, so what areas of your life need repentance today.

Are you becoming weary as a stranger and alien in this world first Peter one. Resolve to remain steadfast of God and his word because you have helped. You have the Holy Spirit listen I know that the wait for a board to return is 90 see how many times were honest. Have you and I said God is so heart would you return already. I know that the way is not easy. I'm not trying to be a pessimist. Sometimes we live in denial until the brokenness of this world hits home and you realize. Well, this is real I know it's hard at times to wait for full restoration but let me encourage you this way we have a promise now I know you think yeah but the probably dealt with a promise is that you have to wait.

And you're right. The problem with a promise is that you have to wait.

Now the only way that you can actually wait is to really believe the promise like when dad tells his little child hate when I come home from work I want to bring your lollipop and that's how believes a promise he goes on playing all day is not worried about it because he's secure in the promise he has embraced it. He has believed that as soon as daddy comes up the driveway and he hears his car pain of his coming.

His lollipop is coming he believed the promise.

I know that the problem with a promise is that you have to wait.

But if you believe the promising embrace that you can wait.

I need the promise is amazing if it is true, and sure that there is no problem at all. This life is a waiting room for the believer, and despite the trials and brokenness of this world, we can totally live in a joyful waiting when our hope is in the Lord because of the short promise, we have in Jesus Christ. Full restoration yes will have to wait. But that doesn't mean is that coming.

We who are in Christ, we will see a new heaven and a new earth. There will be no more tears.

There will be no more violence and there will be no more false judgment. I know we have to wait but it's coming. It's coming.

The weight is not a problem when you know there's good news on the other side. My family has had to deal with a lot of health issues in the recent years.

One of the things that I've learned as we go to several doctors appointments is that you can always tell in a waiting room was going to get the good news to get the badness. The people that are going to get the bad news they way differently.

They bring a loved one with their holding hands in the waiting room.

There slobbering sad other people and again I get a good health report there on the phone ringing phone: playing something to totally happy. The difference is the news Church of Jesus Christ we have good news on the other side we have great news and we can wait joyfully.

Is it easy. No, but we can wait joyfully. I know that when there's a hot issue that confronts her sin that we don't like it.

None of us likes it but charge there lies the opportunity to grow together to to repent together to growing unity one body as many members but one worship our God. We must work to advance God's kingdom versus 6 to 11 of the altar for sacrifices have been erected got simple remains in ruins. The people committed themselves to rebuilding the house of the Lord. They labored with joy and they celebrated but they labored. This was one more step towards reclaiming their identity.

Ask God's people. The church hast to work for unity is not a given. It just doesn't happen overnight as labor-intensive as work, people need to hear the gospel.

Yes the word needs to be preached and taught. We must not give up doing good.

Yes, our labor is not in vain.

But is labor and we must continue in the Lord's labor trust margin used to say it is her duty underprivileged to exhaust our lives for Jesus and of course we must exercise wisdom and in balance, but God has given us much to do a much to build here there not problems or opportunities to listen. If you're not busy with the Lord's work will be busy and selfish gain have to remind myself of this all the time if I'm not busy in the Lord's work. I will get busy and selfish gains so beloved church is quite possible because we see it in Scriptures that God's people can labor for their own house and neglect. Are you busy with your own kingdom to the neglect of God's I need to finish. Let me give you my last point at the church. We must endure discontent.

I know this is weird, on-site, cultural, counterintuitive Downing chapter 3 says verse 12 but many of the priests and Levites and has her father's houses old men who had seen the first house wet with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being late, though many shouted aloud for joy so that people could not discreetly distinguish between the sound of joyful shout from the sound of the peoples weeping for the people shouted with a great shout and the sound was heard, far away.

What is is me know God's people were unified in their home then bringing sacrifices and restoring the temple. They were still homesick.

Some of the elders who had remember remember the first Temple in all of its glory. They were disappointed at this new temple. Therefore, they went, the restored to their home a longing remain for full and final restoration in you and I are lunging must remain.

CS Lewis says our lifelong nostalgia or longing for the to be reunited with something in the universe for which we feel caught off. To be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside is no mere erotic fantasy, but the truest index of our real situation though securing God. We long for true home. We must endure with a holy discontentment to feel satisfied with the temporary joys of this role is to not know pleasures of the eternal kingdom of God.

I rented a house been renting for many many years and in the last 12 months. We finally bought a house while Beth is an American phrase the bank owns a house I just pray for and we went to his house and beautiful home best house of error lived in my life and we did the closing and then we brought the kids to the house and when my three boys dines the houses that are running around the house and they thought it was incredible and then went upstairs and downstairs. And as they were shouting for joy as they were impressed with what they saw a little holy discontentment and holy jealousy got in my heart. I called them and I said hey police do you like this house yeah will. It is also has a will. I have news for you were going to move again moving into a house that's even better than this one that I will bring an end as her neck. Yes, I opened the word Jesus my father's house there are many rooms. I'm going home to prepare one for you.

We have got to feel homesick were supposed to feel homesick. This is not our home. I'm highly concerned when we don't feel homesick. Do not lead to joy.

So this fully cycle informing yourself to a dirty puddle of water. When Jesus is a notion and oceanview for you in his presence forever. We bow our heads and we pray, how do you handle the discontentment of his life.

You are allowed to enter pain drive you to God drive you to display as we long for redemption. We must look to Jesus Christ. He left his home in heaven to come and ransom us. Therefore, one day we will be reunited with him on the home he has prepared for us.

Let us not grow weary as we wait and SB one missing over for the people of God is seen over into gossip is over and God says, for those were found in him. Pain will never have to last word. We can be one, but it starts not picking up a shovel starts with seeking God's face together worshiping evening the Robles father we come to you once again thank you for your holy word father make us want for the witness of your gospel saving grace for your glory make us one make us realize that that starts always humbling ourselves, seeking your face worshiping holding a matchless name together as one.

The name of Jesus we pray,