Amen. Not bad reading that there, brother Dan. That was a tough chapter of reading, wasn't it?
He smashed that. Okay, we're in Ezra chapter two now. In Ezra one, we saw Cyrus, King of Persia,
didn't we? And just a recap for you, because it's been a couple of weeks, we saw him have his spirit
stirred by God into ordering the return of the previous captives from the Babylonian empire,
so he was stirred up to do that. And we talked about how that might have happened, that stirring
up, probably a man of God preaching to him in my mind. We looked at how it fulfilled Jeremiah's
prophecy of the end of the Babylonians along with the return for captivity after 70 years. So
remember, Jeremiah prophesied this previously, just more than 70 years before just over,
and prophesied of not only this return of captivity, but also the end of the Babylonian
empire as well. And then the command from God to Cyrus was to rebuild the house of God, wasn't it?
The temple at Jerusalem. And we've spoken about, and the reason I've chosen this book, one of the
reasons is because it's similar to our job here in the UK, isn't it? Okay, and here in the UK,
I believe we're rebuilding the house of God here, and that's a much needed thing in this country.
And I know some people, maybe from outside or from afar, they want to have some sort of cult,
you don't think any of these. Look, I'm sure there are people out there that believe the
right gospel, I'm sure there are people out there that have the right intentions, but you know what,
I don't see anywhere out there that's behaving anywhere near how the house of God should.
I don't see people going out, I don't see people preaching loudly and clearly the
whole counts of God, I don't see people out soul winning, I hardly see any of them just
standing on the word of God. And if the house of God is a pillar and ground of the truth,
well I'm not seeing much of that around here, and I feel like we've got a rebuilding job to
do in this nation. And that's something we're doing here, and that's one of the reasons I
chose this book to preach from. He encouraged God's people to go and get involved in the job
at hand, and then he gave them all of the vessels from the house of God, and we were talking about
how they were the tools for the service, weren't they? Because at that time, with all of those,
you know, all the sacrifice, all the things that went on in the house of God, they needed those
things to do the job properly. And he then, well with that, we talked about the tools for proper
worship that we've brought here with us, and things like the Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual
Songs. You want to worship God, you need to worship Him properly, don't you? With some
proper hymns, not some feel-good, worldly, tight or modelled on worldly songs. We're here to sing
doctrinally sound hymns that glorify and worship God, not things that just appeal to the flesh,
and other things such as male leadership. That's one of the tools of worship in not only the Old
but the New Testament as well, and sadly there's a lot of churches which seem to have just discarded
that. They do it their own way. Well, the world says that there's some sort of bizarre equality,
where apparently we're exactly the same, which I don't know, I'm looking out there right now, and
women don't look like men and men don't look like women, but apparently that's not modern enough,
but a lot of churches sadly have gone along with that. Another tool we talked about was
preaching instead of schmoozing, didn't we? Preaching instead of tickling ears,
preaching instead of just trying to give you a feel-good pat on the back, because that's one
of the tools of worship, isn't it? One of the tools of getting the best out of us, and it can
be hard sometimes, can't it? We've talked about this many times, sometimes you can sit in the
service and feel like you've literally just been slapped about, beaten up, maybe someone's even
put the shoe in on you as well, and you can come out of there pretty spiritually bloodied and
bruised, but you know what people with strength, with strength of character do, is they dust
themselves off and they come back and they don't just start growling and sneering and snarling at
the preacher. It's the word of God, isn't it? And we all need that, sometimes we need to kick up the
bum, don't we? And we talked about as well, one other tool, tool for worship and tool for serving
God is old-fashioned, door-to-door soul-winning. And again, something which is tried and tested,
it doesn't fail. When we go out and preach the gospel, when we go out and knock doors, what
happens? We come back with salvation. We come back with salvation, we're still coming back with
salvation, there's no reason to change it, is there? And people get confused, they're like,
well yeah, but is the church, are you getting all these people in? That's not what soul-winning is.
Soul-winning is pulling them out of the fire, not pulling them into church. And that's what we do,
and that's what we're told to do, that's what we're commanded to do, and that's what we go out
and do. And that's one of the tools that we bring to the house of God while we're rebuilding. And
that's something that we brought really from the word of God, from the pillar and ground,
one of the pillars and grounds of the truth, the word of God. And that's something that we
bring with us because the word of God's clear about that, isn't it? The tools for service.
Ezra 1-11 said, all the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred.
All these did Shesh Pazah bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from
Babylon unto Jerusalem. Now Shesh Pazah was described in verse eight as the prince of Judah,
which means principal or leader. And I think some of us people see prince and think, okay,
so he's like the son of someone. No, it basically is short for principal. And he led the return
along with the vessels needed for the temple. And Ezra then chapter two says, now these are
the children of the province that went up out of the captivity of those which have been carried
away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon and came again
unto Jerusalem and Judah, everyone unto his city. I'd like to pray before we get going properly in
this chapter. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this chapter, the Bible chapter,
which with a lot of genealogies here, some might, you know, sort of find it hard to follow along.
Just help me to just preach sort of clearly, help people to just stay focused on what your word
saying to them today. Lord, help me to just preach fully your spirit as well. Help everyone to be
just full of the spirit as well. We're listening to this and just to take in,
take into their hearts a message that you laid on my heart when I was writing notes for the sermon.
In Jesus' name, for all of this, amen. So Ezra is about to give us a list of the people that
returned 70 years later after being taken by Nebuchadnezzar. It said in verse one,
now these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity of those
which have been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away unto Babylon
and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, everyone unto his city.
Then it says, which came with Zerubbabel. So who's this Zerubbabel now? Well, this seems to be the
real name for who we just saw called Sheshbezah in chapter one of verse 11. It's basically the
Chaldee name, the Sheshbezah is like, if you think about, remember the book of Daniel and he was
called Belteshazzar. Okay. It's like the Chaldee kind of name that they'd wanted to give him. And
he was probably, you would imagine Sheshbezah was probably in the service of Nebuchadnezzar too,
hence the name change. Now that he's out of captivity, he's being referred to now by his
Hebrew name. Okay. So this is his Hebrew name now that we're referring to him by. Why is he in
charge? Well, turn to Matthew chapter one. It's because he's in the line of kings from David,
mentioned in Joseph's genealogy in Matthew. So Matthew one and verse 12 says,
Matthew one, we're going to look at in verse 12 says, and after they were brought to Babylon,
Jeconias, which is the Greek for Jeconiah, says, begat Selathiel and Selathiel begat Zorababel.
So Jeconiah, who is the son of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, okay, is who we're talking about here.
It's possible that Zorababel was actually the nephew of Selathiel. Okay. So this is a Greek
version for Shealtiel, as first Chronicles three calls him, the son of Padiah, Selathiel's son. So
if you're wondering what's going on here, because there is some people say, oh, there's some sort of
difference. This one says, this one says that. Basically, he was a legal heir. Okay. He was a
legal heir, whichever way it is. According to Matthew one, he's a legal heir. So Matthew one
says, and after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconias begat Selathiel and Selathiel begat Zorababel.
Okay. And here we see that Zorababel's the leader here as well. So he is the legal heir.
God, it's important to God who should be the heir. Okay. And we see before we've seen sort of
people try and change that. The king of Egypt tries to like install someone else. God doesn't
recognize that in the genealogies. Okay. And verse two then says back where we are in Ezra.
So this is Zorababel we saw in Matthew's genealogy to Joseph. Joseph being in the line of kings from
David. And we see in verse two of Ezra, which came with Zorababel, Jeshua, and Jeshua, by the way,
is an alternate of Joshua. And this is a high priest. So in fact, just keep a finger there.
Turn to Haggai chapter one. Haggai one, which talks of Zorababel and Joshua.
So we've just seen, he said, which came with Zorababel. Then he said, Jeshua.
And we see kind of that used interchangeably sometimes for those who named Joshua.
Haggai in chapter one and verse one. It's several years later here. And he says this in the second
year of Darius, the king. Haggai one, one. In the sixth month, in the first day of the month,
came the word of the Lord by Haggai, the prophet unto Zorababel, the son of Shealtiel,
governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Josadec, the high priest saying. Okay. So you've
got Zorababel, the leader here, the one in the kingly line. You've got Jeshua or Joshua, the son
of Josadec, the high priest. So the governor, the man that fulfilled God's requirements for
leadership was Zorababel. Joshua, Joshua, who is from the authentic line of priests, another
requirement of God, fulfilling God's requirements for leadership. And then we see if you're back in
Ezra chapter two and verse two, then there's a Nehemiah, which isn't the same one from the book,
Nehemiah, okay? Who first comes to Jerusalem 90 years on from this point, okay? This isn't the
same Nehemiah. This one's come to Jerusalem, the one in the book of Nehemiah, it's 90 years later,
okay? So this clearly isn't the first one. It seems he's never been there before either. It's
the first time that he goes there. So in case you're wondering there, in case you're looking
at that, going, oh, does that all tie in? No. But there is a Mordecai, if you notice there,
there's a Mordecai who could be the same as in Esther, possibly. Although he would have been
pretty old if he was. I think he probably was, but Esther takes place about 50 years on.
So maybe he went to Shushan to look after her after this, after being here. Possibly, yeah,
because if you remember, he's her uncle. I think maybe her parents have passed on and he goes and
he looks after her. So maybe it's the same guy and he's a bit older than maybe people picture him
in the book of Esther, I'm not sure. But it's not made clear. But these men in verse two and the
ones following her, basically they're all the heads of their families, OK? They're senior
members of each line. That's the point. And we're going to see a lot more of these after.
And many are described as influential later in both the book of Ezra and Nehemiah as well.
So these are influential people, they're heads of their line, they're heads of their families.
And if we're drawing comparisons, like I said, I'd like to with this book between the rebuilding
in Judah and the rebuilding that we're undertaking here in the UK. Both require some genuine
influential men to do it, don't they? And I'm not just talking about the people behind the
pulpit, I'm talking about the people in the rebuilding work, the people, the grafters in
the church. That's what is required to do that. Heads of their family prepared to roll up their
sleeves and get building. And I don't, in fact, I can labour this point because most of you weren't
in Ireland, but it's something I preached quite a length about in Ireland, was, you know, if you
want a church anywhere and you want a successful church, you need people that are prepared to
graft, people that are prepared to work. And one of my points was that a lot of, I think a lot of
people, they see church as a social club, they see church as a what can I get from church,
what am I going to get out of it, what freebies am I going to get, what sort of how can I get,
what can I get, yeah, from church. And part of that comes from false churches and part of that
comes from just a poor mentality and a sort of, you know, quite a takey society in general,
but that's not what church is. Now, yes, you're not going to get anything from a false church,
and you should. Yes, we do benefit from church. I'm not saying you don't and you shouldn't.
Yes, we do. We do. We should grow spiritually from church. We should enjoy the preaching,
the fellowship, the prayer, the worship. However, church, rather than being a social club,
church is a social workplace. And that's what it is. We're here to work. We're here to grow
for God. That's what we're called to do. And look, you know, one way you can do that,
because some people go, well, I don't have a job in the church, you know, how do I work for God?
Well, get out soul winning. Yeah, soul winning is a big part of how we work for God. But there
are other parts to it, so it's not just soul. I love soul winning, so that's it. Oh, well,
I go once a month on the marathons, you know, I'm a soul winner, I'm working for God. No,
there's so much we can do for God, isn't there? And we're talking about this yesterday. I think
I breached this, in fact, last night, so it's fragile on my mind, because I think so many
people don't really get their head straight with that. And also, we were talking to, like,
people who don't have a church yet and saying, if you want a church, you need to get grafting.
You need to be rolling up your sleeves and working, and we have a church, but the graft
doesn't stop, does it? It increases. A lot of us thought, wow, we're doing a bit, you know,
before we had this church. But then, for those people now, we realise, actually, we're doing
a lot more. Because, and you kind of wonder, how do I even fit all this in, compared with what you
did before? But, because you're busy, you're busy, you're working for God. And you get that
right in your head, and then you'll benefit from church. But if you're at church thinking,
what can I get out of this? What can I get? What me, me, me, me, me? You're not going to last
long in church, okay? Because it's not about that. It's about working for God, isn't it?
Okay, and here, what did they have? They had heads of their family prepared to get grafting,
to put the work in. Because, remember, they stirred up people that wanted to build the house
gone. They didn't just stir up some guys who were like, well, I'm heads of the family,
everyone else get working. They weren't too high and mighty to get stuck in, were they,
these guys? They got down and they got stuck in. And for me, that's what we have in this church.
So this isn't a rebuke to this church at all. Because for me, we've got strong men of God,
heads of their families, who, for me, hopefully will be heads of a long line of Christians in
this nation. Yeah, look, for me, the men here, the men that are fathers and will go on to be fathers,
look, I see no reason why we won't all have long lines of Christians coming after us.
And that's something we're building here as well, isn't it? It's not just about us. It's about the
next generations to come as well. And again, something that a lot of people seem to have
forgotten about in life. What happens to my seed and their seed and their seed and their seed?
Because the men in the Bible cared about that, didn't they? They really did. And that's something
we should care about as well. And what we also have, as well as strong men of God in this church,
and we have some strong women of God in here as well, but we have a pastor that fulfills
God's New Testament requirements for leadership. Okay. And that should go without saying, shouldn't
it? And it should just be, yeah, yeah, by the way, we have that. But sadly, it's something that
does need preaching. Because most pastors in this nation of so-called churches and churches that
even people here will have attended in the past when there weren't other churches, don't fulfill
the requirements of God to lead a New Testament church. Go to 1 Timothy 3, because it's always
worth having a reminder of this, of God's current requirements for a past for the New
Testament church. God has these requirements. They haven't changed. These weren't requirements
for just 2,000 years ago. Okay. These are the current, these are still requirements now.
1 Timothy 3 and verse 1 says this, this is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop,
he desireth a good work. So bishop literally means overseer. Okay. This isn't some bloke with a big
funny hat, which probably bigger than other people's funny hats. Okay. And if anyone's
wondering in the Anglican church, they have that. And I think probably they have archbishops in the
Catholic church and they have bishops, I'm sure arch villains and other types. Okay. And it's all
about hats, I think, but that's not what a bishop really is. The title is interchangeable with elder
in the New Testament and we use the word pastor. Okay. But they're all meaning the same thing.
A bishop then must be blameless, a husband of one wife, vigilant, sober of good behaviour,
given to hospitality, apt to teach. And that's many so-called pastors around this nation,
at least I would say around most of the world disqualified. No divorcees. Okay.
Must be the husband of one wife, no divorcees, no one married. Yeah. I mean, there are guys that
fresh out of Bible college that seem to think that they're qualified to be a pastor of a church.
They're not even married. No, no, no perverts. It said, it said vigilant, sober of good behaviour.
And again, how many of these guys are proper weirdos out there?
Act to teach. And it would help if you wanted to be apt to teach the Bible, if you actually read the
Bible, not books about the Bible. We had a little browse in a Bible college yesterday.
It was pretty fascinating, wasn't it? Now I was in a bit of a rush, rushing around, going into
ice cold waters, but some of the men here had a bit of a browse through a Bible college library
and they found a thousand or so books about the Bible, about all sorts of heresies and heretics
and all sorts of damnable heresies. And did anyone find a King James Bible? No, not one King James
Bible. Whole library, Bible college library, not one King James Bible in there. Are there any false
versions of Bibles in there? Oh yeah. Yeah. They had all the false perversions, but no, no, no.
Now, if you want to know more about this, you never know. It might end up appearing on YouTube
because it seems while they're all having a rant and a moan about it, the ring doorbell was
recording and we don't know who's on the end of that. But this was at a Bible college where there
was a room being rented for us to preach out of. So if anyone's wondering and anyone's going,
is this guy really qualified? I've preached at Bible college.
I managed to add a little bit anti-Bible college in there as well. So, you know,
I managed to slip it into the survey just for good measure. But yeah.
So, yeah, yeah. No, sadly though, that's the people, these people have been trained up in this,
aren't they? They're being trained up in all these other things, but they're not apt to teach the
Bible. And most of them haven't even read the Bible. I don't know if you've ever tried to talk
to these sorts of people, ever tried to just discuss with them, everyone on the door with
these so-called, you know, pastors and, and, you know, theological experts. And most of them don't
have a clue what you're even talking about when you start sharing in the Bible. And they start
telling it, well, well, in fact, Darby said this, and, well, what did, what did Schofield say?
What did you fill in the blank say? What did the church fathers say? What does the Bible say? How
about that? What does God say? Not given to wine. Ooh, there's a few out there, isn't it?
No striker, not greedy, a filthy luke, a bit patient, not a brawler, not covetous. And that's
pretty much the rest of the qualified in this nation, isn't it? Boozers, money-oriented,
not covetous, not covetous. How many of them it's, it's so covetous, aren't they? All about money,
all about what they can earn, what they can get, so many go in to the role for that. One that
ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity, not just children
plural, children plural, his children plural for a reason. And by the way, that's not perfect
children, okay? Because you've got those that then want to hold this kind of measuring stick up there
and then no one would be qualified. But it's children in subjection. So they're not wayward
rebellious children. They're children that are being punished and being disciplined when they
are bad and are in subjection to their parents. And he has to be the boss at home, doesn't he?
He said one that ruleth well his own house. He didn't say one that, well, the little kids kind
of do what he says, but the rest of them don't do what he says because mum's the boss in the house.
He has to be the boss, not some apron wearer, not hiding behind his wife's skirt or more likely her
trousers. And the truth is that's probably the few that we've got left over. The ones who aren't
boozing, the ones who aren't one wife are usually probably not boozing and on one wife because
they're so scared of the wife they have, okay? And that's kind of pretty much I would say the
past is in this nation, isn't it? For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he
take care of the church of God? It really is important. Forget, look, you can learn every
book about the Bible out there. You could have read that whole stupid library in that stupid
Bible college, but it doesn't mean you're ready to lead the house of God and the church of God
because how much training, all the people here are families. Haven't you learned and grown a lot in
leadership from having a family? It's so vital, isn't it? It's so important. And it ain't happening
if you have a family that can't rule them. How on earth are you going to rule the house of God
and the church of God? And I say all that because even in independent, fundamental,
so-called Baptist churches who claim to believe every word of God, I mean, the last church I was
at I had a debate about this with someone. And I thought we were just on board. I was saying,
oh, something about someone had left a church because, you know, and again, I didn't even
think I was about to have a debate. I said, oh, just because they, the pastor didn't seem
qualified. I think he only had one child. He's like, oh, hold on a minute. What's wrong with
that? Not another point of contention. Okay. I said, well, the Bible does say that in more
than one place. I mean, Titus, another place. It does say that. And he was like, well, well,
well, what if someone's a very good preacher just straight out of Bible college? Are you,
are you going to stop them being able to preach? No, God stops them. Yeah. God has requirements
for legion. He had requirements in the Old Testament. They think, oh, well, it doesn't
matter that they're not in the high priest line. Just shove them in anyway. Oh, it doesn't matter
that, you know, they're just, they've got none of, none of the line of Kings. Just get them in
there. Get, make them again. No, they're, they're a criteria for a reason. Okay. And as soon as you
start bending that, what else are you going to bend? And with this guy, it seemed like he would
have bent a lot. Okay. In fact, he did bend a lot, including salvation and probably many other
things. Not a novice. That was a guy called Jonathan McClure, in case anyone's wondering,
from this wicked bunch. It's just quickly on this. If anyone's ever come across this law,
they call themselves crown Christian heritage or crown Christian college. And, and they're
basically this, like, there's this church group, mega church, funding them out in the US. And then
they have this training college, you can imagine, yeah, here. Now these guys look okay, because
they claim to be King James only. They claim to be Bible believing Baptist, but they can't,
they work as a charity and they're constantly getting these old church buildings and then
planting churches. Yeah. Churches, a lot of the time, which don't have a statement of faith.
I'll just come and listen to the preaching. How many hours do I have to listen to you
to understand what you, to know what you understand? It'd be nice to actually
have some idea. But anyway, point being, these guys are all preaching repent of your sins in
one way or another. They speak out of both sides. But this guy, Jonathan McClure, West Hill Baptist
in Brighton, preaching repent of your sins, claim not to believe it, did eventually preach it loud
as you like, clear as day, on camera, videoed, recorded saying, you have to turn from your old
sins, you can't live your old life and then get saved. You have to, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera,
clear as day. Anyway, there's a lot of these guys out there. They seem to be the sort of alternative
now for people that are looking for a King James only, so-called gracefully faith church,
because they're quite clever about it. They claim to believe, they're like, size you up while you
ask them what they believe and just think, what do they need to say to appease you and get you into
their church? Yeah. Anyway, but being that, but these people, they claim to believe it and then
they're going, well, yeah, they haven't got any kids, they're not married as long as they can
preach, right? As long as they've come through our Bible college, they're all right. Not a novice
that's being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil. And that's most of
the snotty nose Bible college graduates rolled out, isn't it? I said, can't even tie their own
shoelaces. They've literally just come out of Bible college and suddenly they're leading churches.
What on earth is that about? And we say churches, we use that term loosely.
Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and
snare the devil and go away from that sort of church. And that's all the ex-con prison converts
ruled out too. The ones that suddenly in prison, they found Jesus or something. And then suddenly
they're doing some sort of theological degree inside and they come out and claim to be pastors.
There's a lot of that in sort of the kind of non-denom and Pentecostal type backgrounds and
everything else. But it doesn't matter how you try and justify the childless divorcee because of
his so-called love for God, does it? It doesn't matter how much you try and justify these people
if he really loved God. If he really loved God's word, that would include 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1,
wouldn't it? And if he doesn't, even if he doesn't love those words of God, well, what else doesn't
he love? I'll tell you, a lot of the time it's not the gospel or a lot of the time it's many other
bits as well. They're compromises at the least. And back in Ezra chapter 2, according to Ezra 1-5,
God raised the spirits of a genuine leader. It was a genuine priest and some genuine chief of
the fathers. Okay, these were genuine men of God, genuine leaders, which came with Zerubabel in
verse 2, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Sariah, Reoliah, Mordecai, Belshan, Mizpah, Bigvai, Rehom,
Beinah, the number of the men of the people of Israel, the children of Parosh, 2,172,
the children of Shephartiah, 372, the children of Eirah, 775, the children of Pahath-Moab,
of the children of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812, the children of Elam, 1,250 and 4, the children of
Zatu, 945, the children of Zechai, 703, the children of Bani, 642, the children of Bibi,
620 and 3, the children of Azgad, 1,222, the children of Adonikum, 660 and 6, the children
of Bigvai, 2,056, the children of Adin, 450 and 4, the children of Eitur of Hezekiah, 90 and 8,
the children of Bezai, 320 and 3, the children of Jorah, 112, the children of Hashem, 220 and 3,
the children of Gibbar, 90 and 5. Now at this point, these are all names of the heads of
these households of these men, but we start to see some place names now too. So these are place
names and these are people that take their name from obviously where they live as well.
The children of Bethlehem in 120 and 3, the men of Netophah, 50 and 6, the men of Anathos in 120
and 8, and the children of Asmaveth, 40 and 2, the children of Kir-jatharim, Chiphira and Beoroth,
740 and 3, the children of Reimah and Gabbas, 621, the men of Mikmas in 122, the men of Bethel
and Ai, 220 and 3, the children of Nebo, 50 and 2, the children of Magbish in 150 and 6,
children of the other Elam, 1,250 and 4, the children of Harim, 320, the children of Lod,
Hadid and Ono, 720 and 5, children of Jericho, 340 and 5, children of Sinai, 3,630, the priests,
the children of Judea of the house of Jeshua, 970 and 3, the children of Imre, 1,050 and 2,
the children of Pasha, 1,247, the children of Harim, 1,017, the Levites, the children of
Jeshua and Kabmuel, the children of Hodoviah, 70 and 4, the singers, the children of Asav, 120 and 8.
Now God likes to be worshipped in song doesn't he? So notice how there's some specific singers here
and nothing has changed there and of the Levites there were some appointed to singing.
So it's important isn't it? The worship of God through songs is important. So obviously if it's
important enough to have people dedicated to it in the Old Testament you would think that what we
sing is important isn't it? And again I know I preached this a few weeks ago so I'm not going to
go too long into this but it is important. It's not just well just sing something that mentions
God, mentions Jesus, it's clearly important to him isn't it? And how we sing as well is important.
Sing reverently to God and the fact and when we're singing look there's a couple of things here
because on one on one hand I was preaching look when you're singing like lift up your voices you
know because some people can be a bit shy and I don't understand that you know I'm not trying
to kind of have a go at everyone but some people don't know the hymns necessarily but if you know
the hymns like lift up your voices when you sing yeah because you're singing to God. However why
are you lifting up your voices when you sing? Is it so the guy next to you or the person in front
you the person behind you thinks what a wonderful voice. Is it so they're thinking wow he's just
such a godly man or woman because hopefully it's a she's a godly woman by the way because oh they're
just so like loud when they sing and you know and they do all this extra stuff and they lift their
voice up that's not why we're singing are we? We should be singing not for ourselves with to be
heard of other we're singing so that all of us together are making a sound that God wants to
hear right okay and we should have if we don't have a mentality right with that then we're out
of the spirit doing that and what's the point in singing to God if you're singing in the flesh yeah
just a point on that but there were others here that the well here that were appointed to being
door or gatekeepers he then says in verse 42 the children of the porters the children of Shalom the
children of Atah the children of Talman the children of Acub the children of Hittite the
children of Shobei in all and hundred thirty and nine these are important jobs aren't they
being a doorkeeper being a doorkeeper is an important job it's a massively important job
we've been talking about how we're going to make a couple of changes here with the doorkeeping as
well we want to try and just just change things a little bit and just maybe add an extra person
and just try and do things a little bit differently here for good reason as well because it is an
important job okay and well we want to we want to make sure that that we do it right as well here
they had whole families dedicated to the job whole families and that line of family would learn that
but well isn't the world their oyster couldn't they just go out and be anything they wanted to be
couldn't they just do anything they wanted to do can they just choose a job and that's what
I want to do the poor things no do you know what they were probably pretty good at being
a doorkeeper because their father probably taught them how to do it not a bad idea that is it
actually got taught by someone who knows what they're doing rather than go to college get
taught by someone who doesn't know how to do it and then oh I just can't work out why I didn't
make that job you know maybe you should listen to your dad and learn what he taught you to do yeah
anyway these people these people here were dedicated to it the families are dedicated to
it but turn the first chronicles 23 because just to give you an idea of what a rebuilding job they
had on their hands how decimated those numbers were compared to the glory days of David and then
Solomon's reigns because you know in first chronicles 23 and verse 1 first chronicles
23 1 it says this so when David was old and full of days he made Solomon his son king over Israel
and he gathered together this is uh second sorry first chronicles 23 and verse 2 now and he
gathered together all the princes of Israel with the priests and the Levites now the Levites were
numbered from the age of 30 years and upward and their number by their poles man by man was 30 and
8000 now that was another stipulation of gods the the Levites serving in the tabernacle congregation
or later the temple were to be between 30 and 50 years old in service okay another stipulation yeah
god had rules and do you think they were just breaking those willy-nilly were they just oh
well it doesn't matter things have changed things have changed around here now people work a bit
later people start work a bit earlier now we've just squeezed in a few more it might make that
taking down the tent a bit easier now it might take that that work in the temple a bit easier
we can get a few more on board just break a few little rules you think god would have blessed that
no way okay and of course and for for that reason you know it's the same isn't it with us now we
don't want to be just breaking rules because we think we should and can verse 4 says of which
24 000 were set to sit sorry were were to set forward the work of the house of lord of six
thousand were officers and judges look at verse five moreover four thousand were porters and
four thousand praise the lord of the instruments which i made said david to praise therewith back
in esra 2 in verse 41 42 it's down to 128 singers and 139 porters we see that here and then in verse
65 we see it is eventually 200 so obviously the one with the 128 and 139 are from these lines
here yeah okay but regardless whether it's 128 or it's 200 that's a big different to 4 000 isn't it
okay so the things are a lot different now aren't they okay they're trying to rebuild and like i
said we're going to draw parallels with ourselves as we go through this book it then said in verse
43 back in esra 2 the nephronyms okay now who were the nephronyms turn at esra 8 they're not
to be confused with the nephilim okay and in case you're wondering who the nephilim are well that's
people that seem to get a lot more coverage than they should you know basically means a giant and
people go nuts about this stuff you know suddenly they've kind of someone's doctored some old some
old so-called news article they found like 100 foot giants and everything else i've seen the
article it's like come on man people are gullible okay but however that's not what we're talking
about we're talking about nephronyms and esra 8 20 says this esra 8 and verse 20 also of the
nephronyms whom david and the princes had appointed for the service of the levites
220 nephronyms all of them were expressed by name so nephronyms these people were servants of the
levites these people served the levites so they were helping them to do their job okay oh what
do you mean how dare they have servants well because they're doing an important job and they
needed people to help with the burden of that important job okay and that's part of life isn't
it okay so back to back to esra 2 and verse 44 it says the children of keros the children saiha
the children have paid on sorry did i miss a bit there we said the nephronyms said the children
this is verse 43 sorry the children hasufah the children of tabioth and then we've got the
children of keros the children sayaha the children have paid on the children of lebana the children
of hagabah the children of akab the children of hagab the children of shalamai the children of
hainan the children of giddel the children of gahar the children of reah the children of reason
the children of nakoda the children of gazem the children of uzzah the children of pazia the
children of bezai the children of asna the children of mehunim the children of nephews
backbook the children of haku for the children of h fo the children of basIbees the children
of mejida the children of harsher children of bakas children of scissor the children of
atha at investigators the children of aamr the children of nizar the children of hatahifah
and the children of solomon served as children of sothah the children of sofereth children of
paruda so these now are likely a line of servants to the kings and you could say probably lesser
rulers as well for them to they weren't just right well we serve solomon now we've just put our feet
for the last however many centuries no these people are probably they're just a
line of servants it did serve Solomon they're probably serving King so and
again what have this line done they've learned from their fathers yeah they've
learned their trade and that they're most likely going to be good at the
train that's pretty much how the world's worked for many years isn't it it is a
general rule that's why a lot of a lot of people you know their surnames a lot
of the time of trades and things like that that they've just learned from
their father alert from their father do you think these people were just just
morbidly unhappy in life just just seen that guy to the wish I just had a chance
to do something else no they just got on and grafted didn't
they they learned what their dad did and they were probably good at it because he
probably was good at it and then otherwise he probably wouldn't have done
it or wouldn't have lasted very long and then they learned what their dad did
they learned what their dad did and that's kind of pretty much how the
world's run as a general rule isn't it now suddenly you got a lot of people no
no no no what you actually need instead you need the state to brainwash you for
for 18 plus years or whatever it is and and you to just decide and just pick
something that you're gonna be good at does it really work like that not
necessarily now don't gonna be wrong some people can do well with that sort
of thing yes some people have got some good jobs some people done well in some
good jobs but there's nothing wrong with how things have always worked is there
and obviously it's kind of people try and cast shade on that don't they oh
they've got to be able to choose well keep going verse 56 the children of
jailer the children of dark on children of giddle the children chef attire the
children of Hatil the children of poker with of Zeba in the children of a my all
the nethanyms and the children Solomon servants were 390 and two and these were
they which went up for tell Mila tell Harzer Kirib Aidan and Emma but they
could not show their father's house and their seed whether they were of Israel
so basically they can't prove that they're of a family line these people
now now look at verse 60 the children Deliah the children to buy the children
of Nakoda 650 and to know the children of the priests the children of habeiya
the children of cause the children of Barzillai which took a wife of the
daughter of Barzillai the Gilead I and was called after their name now
Barzillai the Gilead I was one of the men that helped King Dave when he fed
from Absalom in 2nd Samuel 17 you'd have to turn there but basically David was
fleeing when there was you know the the mutiny the rebellion whatever you want
to call it and then this Barzillai the Gilead I kind of comes out of food and
sustenance and helps to keep them going and then I think it's Barzillai when he
tries when he returns afterwards who he's offering him to come and eat at the
king's table to basically look after him provided and he was like look don't worry
I don't need anything back from you I was just happy to help you okay this guy
is a pretty good guy this this this guy here now and we're talking many many
years later now hundreds and hundreds of years later Barzillai has adopted his
name after marrying one of his lines so this person isn't that Barzillai okay
this is obviously generations of kings later it says it says he took a wife of
the daughter of Barzillai the Gilead I and was called after their name okay
strange thing to do but that's what he did and that's not obviously biblical
biblically a wife should take her husband's name okay we see that
throughout the Bible examples of that known by either their father or their
husband if they're married okay however much the world likes to change that
let's keep going verse 62 says he sought their register among those that were
reckoned by genealogy but they were not found therefore were they as polluted
put from the pre from the priesthood now again God's criteria for roles and
positions is to be taken seriously isn't it yet again he didn't just turn a blind
eye then even after captivity had hit their numbers big time yeah so he didn't
go well you have been in captivity now so okay just because you can't prove it
I'm sure you're genuine I'm sure you are of this line no they were polluted they
were put from the priesthood weren't they okay and same now he doesn't now go
oh well Christianity's really kind of gone downhill in this country so let's
just get in those those divorcee pastors let's just get in those people that are
unqualified and the thing is they're the obvious ones that whole list of
qualifications it's not the well yeah let's just take the ones that we can
really see and they're really the whole lot's important isn't it okay it's not
like yeah well you know the married beer and we'll go with the children because
that bit you can really kind of just just assess whether they are or not but
it doesn't matter if they're kind of a bit of a useless teacher it doesn't
matter if they're kind of just you know not really give it a good it doesn't
matter if they're just like a bit of a you know a bit of a scumbag but as long
as they're married and they got kids doesn't matter if they're bit covetous
yeah well they just kind of talk about money all the time and they just kind of
want everything that everyone else has got but they got kids so I yeah look
it's the whole lots important right okay same as we see here it's all important
everything God has criteria there's no excuse even 70 years of captivity and
the numbers decimated is not an excuse yeah okay now he said here that they
were polluted okay they were put from the for the priesthood and here well we
were he said it so they sought their register among those that were reckoned
by genealogy and genealogy doesn't count anymore okay so genealogy is done away
with now now then it did matter okay but it's done away with now because we're
Israel now aren't we hey we are Israel but a lot of people don't really
understand this and they wonder well how are we Israel so turn of Romans chapter
9 because we're it's now a spiritual nation and that spiritual seed is
through faith in Christ so even though we have these here that that are
reckoned by genealogy that's now done away with okay and the only way that
the only genealogy we care about is a genealogy that got to Jesus Christ yeah
okay from there you become Israel through faith in Christ and that's clear
as day in the New Testament and anyone that denies that is again saying one of
two things are saying number one I don't know the Bible or number two I know the
Bible and I reject the Bible because I prefer to learn what what I what I want
to believe from heretics like Schofield like Larkin like John Nelson Darby like
all these clowns all these sort of Zionist type free trip types and
everything else and it has to kind of them working with their free trip
doctrine but really it's all just just it's rank heresy it really is okay
because you're just denying clear scripture clear scripture in the Bible
Romans chapter 9 makes it very clear that we are now Israel it says in verse
Romans 9 and verse 6 not as though the Word of God had taken none effect for
they are not all Israel which are of Israel neither because they're the seed
of Abraham are they all children but in Isaac shall thy seed be called that is
they which are the children of the flesh these are not the children of God so
they were then they're not now but the children of the promise accounted for
the seed those who claim some sort of fanciful genetic line and not the
children of God anymore okay clear as day in the Bible and and again it's one
of those things you might think like you talk about this a bit in look did you
know why I talk about this a bit because it's all over the place because it's
crazy because it's even worse than that because with that they're basically
trying to claim that people that literally hate God that the Bible
describes as a synagogue of Satan that that hate him and when I say they hate
God they despise the Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ yeah they're the enemy of
the gospel and and these people are trying to tell us that they're the
children of God that they're God's people it's it's crazy and then you get
to the point where there are people even save people in churches where they're
borderline worshiping these people it's it's it's twisted around and turned
around and it's upside down in Galatians in chapter 4 you turn if you like
Galatians 4 we're gonna go to Paul said to the believers at the church in
Galatia we just read back there in Romans 9 and verse 8 that is they which
are the children of the flesh these are not the children of God so even if they
did have a genetic line which they don't they're not the children of God but the
children of the promise accounted for the seed and Galatians 4 28 says now we
we brethren as Isaac was are the children of promise it's pretty clear
isn't it didn't take much there did it we didn't really have to go to a hundred
so you could go to a hundred scriptures don't get me wrong and pretty much every
book of the New Testament will give you something about this clear truth yeah
you don't really have to go to a hundred scriptures that's clear as day isn't it
they're not the children of God the children of promise are we brethren as
Isaac was the children of the promise there we go job done solved get your
Zionists out yeah it's unbiblical get your Zionism out of the churches or
you're denying clear scripture in the Bible how about that and I tell you what
while you're at it get those stupid stars of REM fan out of these churches
as well star of REM fan they're trying to call a star today there's six point
of wicked blasphemous satanic stars they're pushing everyone's face we're in
Belfast all over the walls there what's it got to do with the walls in Belfast
with the peak so called peaceful they got a star of REM fan on it even though
what was it anyone know what the explanation for that was one stars as
good as another massive great thing pictures of female Israeli soldiers
next to me I didn't have time to look at it trying to get some people saved and
away from that filth away from that rubbish but but these stuffs everywhere
I mean we look there were some Zionist heavy churches here and it's out of us I
mean some of these guys they'll have next to the pulpit here they'll ever
they'll have an Israeli flag and when I say an Israeli flag I'm saying they'll
have a star of REM fan full-on behind it while they're preaching and these guys
came to believe the Bible starts isn't it the star of their God REM fan their
star their God Moloch that's what these people have behind them and it's it's
outrageous isn't it and instead of what we are kind of trying to apologize for
Oh replacement theology and everything else they should be apology like it's
embarrassing isn't it we should be going you are an absolute and they are an
absolute disgrace aren't they absolutely read your Bible and take the Bible for
what it says instead of all these wicked false teachers out there trying to
promote and push Zionism it's wicked full state and all the wickedness that
comes with it back in Ezra 2 these for me are a picture of the unsaved Jews in
the New Testament so that's what I see here back in Ezra 2 verse 6 to 2 says
these sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy but they
were not found therefore were they as polluted put from the priesthood because
there are no more genealogies there are no more genealogies Titus 3 9 says but
avoid foolish questions of genealogies and contentions of strivers about law
for the unprofitable and vain so all these clowns that try and claim that
they can try trace some genealogy back to and by the way it never goes back all
the way to it didn't even go back to thousand years didn't even go back more
than a few hundred years usually back to some converts I'm actually usually
Ashkenazi convert yet it wouldn't even matter even if they could get it all the
way back because we're told to avoid foolish questions of genealogies in the
New Testament and contentions as strivers about law for their unprofitable
and vain it makes no difference because it's done because that physical nation's
gone because the only way you're Jew is by faith in Jesus Christ it then says
and the ter shasha said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy
things till they stood up a priest with Urim and Thurman so I think these are
probably a picture of the unsaved Jews earlier in verse 62 their register
among them that was reckoned by genealogy they're not found because
what's the genealogy now what does it come from it's faith in Christ okay
they're polluted and put from the priesthood and then we go to verse 63
where it says in the ter shasha said unto them that they should not eat of the
most holy things till they stood up a priest Urim and Thurman now ter sha
there seems to be a Persian name for the governor that we see Nehemiah later
called in he's called both both the governor and a ter sha in the book of
Nehemiah as well but at this point it's it's zara babel and he's restricting
anyone eating of the holy things until there's a priest with Urim and Thurman
and turn to Exodus 28 which kind of gives us an idea of this but the words
they seem to signify lights and perfection apparently but they were for
me there was some sort of ornament on the priest's clothing so it's something
on the priest's clothing that signifies something that we no one seems to really
understand there's a bit of debate about what this is and I think anyone who says
they know for sure is probably lying okay it's a bit hard to really know what
this is what they were is debatable but Exodus 28 and verse 29 is the first time
that they're seen it says in verse 29 or it's first time is verse 30 but verse
29 says in Aaron shall bear the names of children of Israel in the breastplate of
judgment upon his heart when he goeth in unto the holy place from memorial before
the Lord continually and thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim
and the Thurman and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the
Lord and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart
before the Lord continually so there's something worn they go hand in hand with
the high priest mediating with the Lord for the children of Israel yeah that's
what they do that's what they are so back in Ezra 2 63 it just for me it just
seems they're careful to be doing things the right way okay they're careful to do
it the right way verse 63 says and the Tarshathah said unto them that they
should not eat the most holy things so they stood up a priest with Urim and
Thurman now now we look to the high priest after the order of Melchizedek
now don't we the Lord Jesus Christ but the house of God it isn't a free-for-all
so just because well yeah we've done away with that so we don't have that
that priestly line that Aaron line of priests anymore so you know you just do
what you want here God still wants things done decently and in order
doesn't he here they say right important we need to do things as they're meant to
be done okay and and nothing's changed well we're under grace man you know
let's just all just have a rock party in here and just kind of do what we want
let people just do what they want in here no no things should be done
decently and in order okay God hasn't changed with that either has he yeah the
way we do things is differently but he still want things done decently in order
first Corinthians 14 40 says exactly that let all things be done decently and
in order and when we come to church we have a way of doing things don't we for
example we have a way in this church during the Lord's Supper that we believe
is a way that that God wants it done now some people might do but I don't know
you know and people have different views and different opinions or what how they
interpret maybe the frequency the exact way whether it's done all together in a
church sector of the Lord's Supper but however the house of God that you attend
decides to do that if you've got enough of a problem don't come otherwise you
just do it that way don't you yeah baptism we believe to do things decently
in order in this church that baptism is to be done by someone ordained it's to
be done by an ordained man of God because that's the example we see in
Scripture every time okay and there's never an example of someone that's
clearly not ordained yeah and and this is a this is what I say to people who
try and question this because people do try and question this yeah because
people just they just can't take like not being able to do this or not because
people just find it hard to just deal with rules yeah and people love to just
like make themselves something instead of just waiting or working for God
through another man of God to ordain you yeah so then they start trying to bend
it and twist it and turn it and one of those things to be baptism okay but
here's a question always have for them if they go well who says you have to be
an ordained man of God to baptize I always go to him okay so why don't you
get baptized by my 13 year old daughter what's the difference because there's no
scripture what's why not what's the problem if I
didn't say anything oh it should really be a male to me okay okay let my ten
year old son baptize you then he saved what's wrong with that saved and
baptized partook in the Lord's Supper the other day can't he baptize you no
why not why not because what's the example we see in scripture ordained men
of God yeah let all things be done decently and in order when we don't have
a clear scripture we follow the example in scripture don't we another one that
we were we doing and again it starts just to remind people sometimes because
sometimes we get new people coming or people just don't understand it we don't
have women shouting out in the service in church we've had it now and again
if they knew we don't embarrass them and start kind of throwing them out and
stuff okay we give them a week or something until we start doing that but
we don't because again let all things be done decently in order and in order and
the Bible is very clear that they're not permitted to speak in the church okay
and that's talking about when we're in the congregation when the preaching is
going on that's not their job yeah they should have someone over them they have
someone you know their leader who's there to represent you know who is a
spiritual head yeah so we don't have that either and you know in some women
like to try and get around this one way or another we talked about this I think
the other week you know they'll just be like hey well just wait till you know
wait to her out the church and then I'll just teach everyone on whatsapp I'll
just teach everyone through my youtube channel or something on my facebook page
you know that's not okay yeah when it comes to the things of God they shouldn't
be teaching anyone but why is it that they just so need to what's the Bible
say they in the spirit like hell and in the flesh nothing nothing there's
nothing in the spirit about that anyway I mean keep going otherwise we're
running out of time here verse 64 says the whole congregation together was 40
and two thousand three hundred and three score beside their servants and their
maids of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirteen seven and there
were among them two hundred singing men and singing women so so you know some
more to join the hundred twenty eight children of Asaph it looks like okay
from some other line obviously but these were there were then two hundred of each
their horses were seven hundred thirteen six their mules two hundred
fourteen five the camels four hundred thirteen five their asses six hundred
seven hundred and twenty there sorry six thousand seven hundred twenty and some
of the chief of the fathers when they came to the house of the law which the
Jerusalem offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place now
there were generous people giving extra help things get going just a quick point
on this is that because we've just been talking about the Jews in inverted
commas yeah and obviously we look back to scripture many of the kind of failings
that what were really the Jews and obviously the house of Israel until it
kind of was you know it kind of gets whittled down to really Judah and a bit
of Benjamin and you know and some Levites kind of left over look these
these people yeah they made a lot of errors a lot of mistakes they did some
some crazy stuff and they do some bad stuff but they're not the same people
we're talking about now and some of these people were good people these
people here that let's be honest most most people in the world most Christians
most people that claim to love God and love the Word of God if there was you
know some new kind of thing going on for example in Utah it wouldn't be like
right bringing all my cash and get on with it you know I'm not trying to do
that because you're wondering but my point is that these are that's a big
step of faith to do that isn't it and these people did it these people were
doing that and because we could all often look back and then we kind of
equate them as the same people now don't get me wrong as we go into went
into the Gospels and everything I mean the state of what was left of these
people sort of 500 years after this I mean it's just appalling yeah and these
people really are the spiritual fathers of the wicked people that we see there
today not physical but spiritual and yeah they are wicked okay but at this
point and in history there were still some good people and even then there
were some good people there are people that got say that I mean you know I did
some good things for God yeah and here these guys are they're offering freely
for the house of God to set it up in his place and we could go yeah well yeah
they do as they should do but like I just said we're Jews yeah we a lot of us
here would find that hard and find that a big step of faith to do that they gave
after their ability unto the treasure of the work three score and 1,000 drams of
gold and 5,000 pounds of silver and 100 priests garments so the priests and the
Levites and some of the people and the singers and the ports and methonyms to
other cities and all Israel and their cities so they were giving freely X this
isn't a tithe they were just like I want to get things going for God I want to
give to God and like I said that could be your resources that could be your
time that could be your effort that could be things and people do that
sometimes people are like look I've got something that I don't even use I'm
gonna give it to the foot for God I've got something else that I can spare I'm
gonna give it for the house of God and people do that and these people did that
and they were good people weren't they okay and and sadly 500 years down the
line it doesn't seem like there's much left of these sorts of people but they
were there and they're not the same people that we see now with stupid side
burns and curly bits on them and wearing wizard outfits and head banging for no
reason and stupid little yamakas and the rest they're not the same people okay
what was it described as once wearing Polish nobleman outfits there's nothing
biblical about that that's not these people here so when you look at this you
look at that I think a lot of people are just envisaging these people in all
black with white shirts and tassels everywhere walking down going we give
freely to the house of God that's not they're not the same people okay they're
completely different these people are actual children of God yeah these are
these are God's people returning after captivity having got a whooping for 70
years going yeah let's get going let's get the car let's get back to the old
ways and everything else they're not the people there it got nothing to do
with God yeah it was just a synagogue of Satan okay they're different that's why
they look like absolute psychopaths on that let's pray father thank you for
well for the book of Ezra and the many lessons that hopefully we're going to
learn from it as a church here and hopefully it'll be an encouragement to
us and just an inspiration to want to be part of the rebuilding work we're doing
here and just want to roll our sleeves up and get working for this church which
is your church Lord and help us to all just just get the right heart for that
and Lord we pray that you know on a day like this Easter Sunday that we don't
forget you know that sacrifice that you you made for us and how the Lord Jesus
Christ just you know not only died not only was buried but but rose again as
well and how that's such a key part of the gospel help us to go out this week
and preached up loudly and clearly and boldly to the lost and and help us to
return safely back here on on Wednesday and for those that are unable on Sunday
for another day in your house in Jesus name pray all of this amen