There are times where life gets so broken down,
-that it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel
Life can get down right hopeless
-we wonder, “How will the pieces ever come together?”
-you know, Humpty Dumpty was never able to be put together again!
You probably know someone right now who’s going through such a time
You can probably remember going through a time like that, yourself
Or, maybe you are going through a time like that right now
-you fell off the wall,
& you don’t know how you’re going to be put together again
Sometimes, we just loose hope - our future seems bleak
-but remember - God has a plan for your life
-we saw last week, with the people of Israel - though their nation was destroyed
-many of the people were dispersed
-some were slaves in Babylon
-God reminded them that He had plans & a future for them:
Jeremiah 29:10-11
This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
In the NT, we’re told that the Lord has a “Race marked out for us”
-do you remember that? - God has plans for our lives!
Now, we’re also told that we have a cross to carry for the Lord,
& life won’t always be easy
-maybe we should say, won’t usually be easy
-but, ultimately, our future is bright - in Christ - He has a plan for our lives!
John 14:1-3
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
Can you right now, trust your life & your future to the Lord?
Can you trust your life to Jesus & follow Him
& let Him fulfill His plans for your life?
Can you trust God, to put your life back together again?
In whatever state of disarray your life is in, or will be in,
-can you trust God to put the pieces together?
Now, I know, no one could put Humpty Dumpty together again
& that’s real sad
-but, when God is involved
-you can be certain that He is able to put your life together
-God rebuilds lives
-& we see this wonderfully done with the nation of Israel
-back some 500 years before Christ
God had made a promise, that after 70 years in Babylon,
-after Jerusalem was all torn down,
-He would restore the nation & the great city of worship
-He would bring the people back home
-this was God’s plan of prosperity, & hope & a future for His people
Well, the 70 year alarm clock has gone off
& Ezra is the biblically inspired newspaper of the account
Ezra 1:1-4
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
2 "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:" 'The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Anyone of his people among you — may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.'"
Answer a basic question - Who’s in control?
Now, it’s not that we’re not in control of things - Cyrus was in control
-of what he considered the whole world
-but ultimately, God’s in control - & if any person has control over something
-God can step right in & take control Himself
-or, He can put someone in a position of control
-to accomplish His purposes
God was going to rebuild this nation - & He rebuilt this nation
Can God rebuild your life?
-& remember, our lives really have been broken - broken by sin & rebellion
-by pride & selfishness
-by broken relationships
-realize, that many of us sitting here this morning,
-have already had a considerable amount of God’s influence in our lives
-such that He has already built many of us
-& it’s easy to forget just how lost & broken we’d now be if it wasn’t for God
-so, if you’ve been following God for a while
-your life my be significantly put together
-so, to appreciate God’s work in your life
-sometimes think about how broken your life would be-had you not trusted
& followed Christ for however long you have followed Him
-but, yet there’s more to build - all us have further to go in the building process
Is God in control & can we trust Him to really put our lives together?
Let’s get a little insight into just how much God is in control?
Take a look at how much God was in control back in the days of Babylon
& even way before
-look at what God told the people some 250 years before Ezra’s time
-through the prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 43:27-44:3
Your first father sinned; your spokesmen rebelled against me.
28 So I will disgrace the dignitaries of your temple, and I will consign Jacob to destruction and Israel to scorn.
Isaiah 44:1-3
"But now listen, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen.
2 This is what the Lord says — he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
First, there were the people’s sins
-then at some point, there would be judgment
-& some 200 years later - that judgment was Babylon
-for the southern tribes of Israel
-it was Assyria much earlier for the northern tribes
-but God was always in control & always had plans to rescue
& save His people - to rebuild them
-throughout this whole process, God was in control
-making sure what He wanted to happen, happened
Isaiah 44:21-22
"Remember these things, O Jacob, for you are my servant, O Israel. I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. 22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."
God is forgiving
-His mercy, grace & love - ought to cause us great joy & to praise Him!
Isaiah 44:23 Sing for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.
Can you trust God?
Is God in control?
Isaiah 43:24-28 "This is what the Lord says — your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the Lord, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself,
25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, 26 who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, 'It shall be inhabited,' of the towns of Judah, 'They shall be built,' and of their ruins, 'I will restore them,' 27 who says to the watery deep, 'Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,' 28 who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid." '
Now remember, this is being written some 250 years
-before the rebuilding of Jerusalem
-or close to, probably 180 years before it was torn down to begin with
-this was a couple hundred years before Cyrus ever was born!
-here God is telling His people about the rebuilding,
-before it was ever torn down
-He is reminding them, that He is definitely in control
-as He’s the one who created everything
-if it wasn’t for God, we wouldn’t be here - there wouldn’t be a universe!
-He reminds them, that He is the source of truth
& He is therefore, the One to follow
-He promises that He’ll deliver them & rebuild them,
-when they’re broken down
-& in this light, He promises & predicts a certain ruler, whom God will use
-He even gives them his name - Cyrus
Isaiah 44:28 who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid."
Isaiah 45:1-5
"This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: 2 I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. 4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. 5 I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, 6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.
There is an important & very basic lesson to learn from this first page of Ezra
-that, from the rising of the sun, to the place it goes down
-men should know that there is no other god
-than the LORD - there is no other!
And you His people, you can know that He is in control
-He is faithful & you can trust Him
1 Corinthians 1:4-9
I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way — in all your speaking and in all your knowledge— 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
In Corinth, these were some people who really needed building up
-as they lived in a city
& culture that was horribly ungodly & evil
-most of these people really had messed up lives
-talk about having dysfunctional lives & families
-this city & this culture was the perfect setup for that
-God is in control - He is faithful & you can trust Him to build your life
-it’s certainly seen in the rebuilding of the nation of Israel
-the restoration of Jerusalem & the temple
-God, some 250 years earlier, makes plans to use an ungodly king,
-He gives him the name, Cyrus
-to pave the way for the people’s return to Israel
-& here he is, Cyrus:
Ezra 1:1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
And so, begins the rebuilding - at God’s command - through the king, Cyrus
Ezra 1:5-9 5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites — everyone whose heart God had moved — prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings. 7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
9 This was the inventory:
And here you’ve got a list of those important things:
gold dishes 30
silver dishes 1,000
silver pans 29
10 gold bowls 30
matching silver bowls 410
other articles 1,000
11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
And, there’s a list of the people who went:
Ezra 2:1-2
Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town, 2 in company with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum and Baanah):
Can you trust God?
Is God faithful?
Is God in control & will you cooperate with His control over your life?
Even though, we talk about God being in control
-there is an important aspect of free will
-where God gives you a choice in the mater
-in how you decide to follow His lead & direction for your life
Realize too, how broken down our lives get
-there will be times of hopelessness & despair
-there will be times of physical weakness & breakdown of our bodies
-there will be times of emotional turmoil - breakdown of our peace
-there will be times of relational conflict
-breakdown between our friends & family
-& struggles with our enemies
-& there will be times of spiritual drought
-a breakdown in our close walk with the Lord
-times like this will happen in our lives & maybe you’re going through it now
-also, it’s good to think back
& even speculate where your life would be without the Lord
-if you’ve followed the Lord for some time now
-realize, that your life would be much more troubled
& broken if it wasn’t for where the Lord has taken you
-it’s sometimes good to talk to someone who has been a believer for 1-2 years
-& they often have a good idea of what God does in our lives
-they’re closer to the destruction & broken life without God
-then those of us who’ve been believers for 10-20 years or more
God is in control - He is faithful - you can trust Him
-give your life to Him
-God is mighty to save
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
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