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You know, I used to sit over and do the instructions. I'd go, oh, I'm doing it. And now, when they had the page, it only did the same thing. I'd go, oh, it matches the point. And I'd go, oh, I'm doing it. And the manager'd finish it. And the agent was like, oh, come on, this computer. He wanted me to point it out. And he did all that. And I thought, oh, he's telling me something. OK, well, we've got the video. So that's what I thought. I thought, oh, no, I'm going to show him the slip. And he goes, no, no, no, no. OK. Yeah, Pastor Kevin, pour water over here. Yeah, and Matt's water's down there at the bottom. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you drink from this cup, would you? Do you put it there when you sing, or do you just put it down on the... Okay, good evening everybody. Welcome to church. We'll just start off with our first hymn, hymn number 18, Take the Name of Jesus with You. Hymn number 18, Take the Name of Jesus with You. The name of Jesus with you, child of sorrow and of woe. It will joy and comfort give you, take it then where'er you go. Precious name, oh how sweet hope of earth and joy of heaven. Precious name, oh how sweet hope of earth and joy of heaven. Take the name of Jesus ever as a shield from every snare. If temptations round you gather, breathe that holy name in prayer. Precious name, oh how sweet hope of earth and joy of heaven. Precious name, oh how sweet hope of earth and joy of heaven. Oh the precious name of Jesus, how it fills our souls with joy. When his loving arms receive us and his tongues our tongues employ. Precious name, oh how sweet hope of earth and joy of heaven. Precious name, oh how sweet how sweet hope of earth and joy of heaven. At the name of Jesus bowing, falling prostrate at his feet. King of kings and heaven will crown him when our journey is complete. Precious name, oh how sweet hope of earth and joy of heaven. Precious name, oh how sweet hope of earth and joy of heaven. Okay, I'll ask brother Matt to open in a word of prayer. Jim, I think we'll ask you to come to the church today to pray with blessings served and bless the fellowship we have in the course of preaching and help us all to grow and become close to you today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Turn in your Bibles to Psalm 119. Thank you brother. Psalm 119. It's good to be back in church, amen. Mr. Weak, because of COVID. What's that? Never left. Never left. Psalm 119, we're back to the reading. We've fallen behind now, haven't we? But Psalm 119, we are up to Shin. Am I right? Are we up to Shin or have we read that? That's verses 161 to verse 168. Does anyone remember? I've been out of action for a week. I'm pretty sure I'm up to Resh. No, no, we've read Resh. I've got it ticked. I've got it ticked in my Bible. Resh. We're up to Shin. Just in case sometimes I forget to tick. Alright guys, we're going to read together. Psalm 119, and let's start there in verse number 161, which is Shin. We'll read up to verses 168. Let's read together. Amen. Alright, before brother Tim comes back, just to let you guys know, if you haven't already Lord, I have hoped for thy salvation and done thy commandments. My soul have kept thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies, for all my ways are before thee. Amen. Alright, before brother Tim comes back, just to let you guys know, if you haven't already known, the Queensland borders are back open from Saturday. No requirements, no border passes, no vaccination status. It's back to the way it always has been. So that means I can start planning my trip back to Queensland with the family. It's kind of sad to say that, because I really will miss you guys a lot when we move back. But I guess I'm asking for you all to just keep that in prayer, the plans to return back to Queensland. I do need to give my tenants two months notice that are actually in my house there in Malaney. So I won't be going for at least another two months. But I can start travelling for my midweek services and some Sunday services for New Life Baptist Church up there right now. And in light of all that, I do want to have a church meeting this coming Sunday. So with the men, men that are 20 years and over, I want to have a church meeting with you guys after the service on Sunday at 12pm. Because we need to start talking about and planning ahead of what the church will look like moving forward, who will be preaching, how often we're going to have services, etc, etc. Who's going to be taking care of the live services. So I need as many of you guys there for the meeting. If you're listening online, you're part of our church, please try to be there as well. If you can't make it to the meeting, please call in. I know some of you guys may still have COVID or not, I don't know. But if you do, if you're in isolation, you want to be part of the meeting, please call in. I'll give you a number that you can dial into. And then you can at least be part of the meeting in that way. But we do need to start planning ahead for that. So please keep it all in prayer. The plans for Blessed Our Baptist Church, the return back to Queensland for myself and the family. And yeah, you know, I believe the sermon that I'll be preaching tonight will answer some of those thoughts and questions that we may have as well with a big change like that moving and the plans for the church. So I'll give it back to Brother Tim. He's got some some water for himself. Yeah, praise God that the borders are open. You shaved your beard off as well Pastor Kevin. There's some news. If your face gets cold, just pop a mask on, I guess. Okay, just next page over, there is a fountain. Hymn number 19, there is a fountain. Don't we? Okay, hymn number 20, When I See the Blood. When I see the blood, When I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Chiefest of sinners, Jesus can save, As he has promised, so will he do. O sinner, hear him, trust in his word, Then he will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, When I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Judgement is coming, all will be there, Who have rejected, who have refused. O sinner, hasten, let Jesus in, Then God will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, When I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. O what compassion, O boundless love, Jesus has power, Jesus is true. All who believe are safe from the storm, O he will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, When I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Oh, great singing. Okay, next page. What a wonderful Saviour, hymn number 21. Do we have that one, Nicholas? Okay, good. Jesus Christ has force in atonement made, What a wonderful Saviour, We are redeemed, the price is paid, What a wonderful Saviour. What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Jesus, What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Lord. I praise him for the cleansing blood, What a wonderful Saviour that reckons of my soul to God, What a wonderful Saviour, What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Jesus, What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Lord. He cleansed my heart from all its sin, What a wonderful Saviour. And now he reigns and rules in me, What a wonderful Saviour. What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Jesus, What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Lord. He gives me your coming power, What a wonderful Saviour. And triumph in each trying hour, What a wonderful Saviour. What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Jesus, What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Lord. To him I've given all my heart, What a wonderful Saviour. The world shall never be apart, What a wonderful Saviour. What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Jesus, What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Lord. Brother Anthony, would you be so kind to lend your services? Everyone turn in your Bible to Ezra chapter 1 please. Brother Anthony will come up for the Bible reading. Alright brethren, Ezra chapter 1. Give you a bit of time to turn there. Ezra chapter 1 verse 1. Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver and with gold, and with goods and with beasts beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised to go up to build the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem. And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered. Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods. Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithradath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbezah the prince of Judah. And this is the number of them, thirty charges of gold, a thousand charges of silver, nine and twenty knives, thirty basins of gold, silver basins of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand. All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbezah bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your word, thank you for your house, Lord. I just pray now that you be with Pastor Kevin, fill in with your spirit and wisdom and guidance, Lord. Give us soft hearts and ready minds that we may receive your word and grow thereby. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Okay, so the plans to reopen Queensland, which again will be from Saturday, has made me rethink of what I was going to preach today. I was going to preach on the Ten Commandments. I'm going to finish that series, don't worry about it. But I wanted to touch on a new book. In the weeks I've got left, as far as my plan to return, I wanted to hit on a new book of the Bible. And I kind of figured out, well, I could probably preach with ten chapters. Then I went through the Bible and had a look at, you know, just to see what other books there are that roughly fit that number, and I found the book of Ezra, which has ten chapters, of course. And I just felt that it was a perfect continuation of where we've left things off. You know, when we came here, we started to, I was preaching through the book of Jeremiah, but then we went through Lamentations. We've also done a bit of a journey through 1 John, 2 John, 3 John. But I thought it was really good to, you know, sometimes when you read the book of Jeremiah and Lamentations, you're left on a downer a little bit, right? They're going into captivity. And we know that there's this great promise that God has for them, that one day they will return back to the land. And so I just thought, you know what, that is the positive message. And when we look at the book of Ezra, the book of Nehemiah is the same thing. It's about the Jews returning back into the land. And so it's got a very positive outlook to it, okay? Even though there's some questionable things that take place in the book of Ezra, you know, the book of Ezra is largely a historical book, okay? When you're trying to understand the history of Israel, and you get through 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, then you've got Ezra, and it just continues on in the story. Now if you just look at Ezra chapter 1, verse number 1, let's start there in verse number 1, it says, Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia. And so the title for the sermon tonight, brethren, is The Lord Stirred Up Cyrus. The Lord Stirred Up Cyrus. And so you can see here in verse number 1 that the prophet Jeremiah has been mentioned. So I think it's a nice conclusion, or continuation at least, of the thoughts and ideas that God had through the book of Jeremiah and Lamentations. And as I said, you know, this is a return back to the land. Now if you just go back to the previous book, just look at 2 Chronicles, and just the last chapter there, just turn back one page in your Bibles, and look at 2 Chronicles chapter 36, I just want to show you the continuation that we've left off when we're looking at the book of Jeremiah, and we've seen how Jerusalem's been taken into captivity, it's been destroyed, the house of God's been destroyed, the temple, the city's been burnt down. And I want you to just notice there in 2 Chronicles 36 verse 19, let's start there, let's start there from verse number 19, and it says, And they burnt the house of God, and break down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. So of course this is Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, taking down Judah, taking down Jerusalem, taking down the city, destroying it with a big fire. And then it says in verse number 20, And them that had escaped from the sword carried him away to Babylon, so that's the captivity, where they were servants to him and his sons, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia. So if you remember when we go through Jeremiah, we saw the, well it's history to us, but the prophecy of God that the king of Persia would ultimately take over Babylon. Okay, so let's keep going there, verse number 21, To fulfil the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths, For as long as she lay desolate, she kept Sabbath, to fulfil three score and ten years. Three score, a score is twenty, so that's sixty, three times twenty, sixty plus ten is seventy years. And we know that the Jews were taken to captivity by the Babylonians for that seventy year period which was prophesied by God. Now let's keep going there in verse number 22. What we're going to read now here in verse number 22 is pretty much almost identical to what we read in Ezra chapter 1. The very first verse is almost identical. It says there in verse number 22, Now in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, and he made proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia, all the kingdoms of the earth have the Lord God of heaven given me, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God will be with him, and let him go up. And so you can see how we come to the end of the, well to the destruction of Jerusalem. We now have Persia that's taken over Babylon, and the last few verses there in the second chronicles are basically the same few verses that we're going to read there in the book of Ezra chapter 1. And so Cyrus has been moved by God. God has stirred the heart of Cyrus to allow the Jews to return back into their land, to return back into Judah. Now I'm not sure whether Cyrus was a saved man or not. I don't know. To really make my best guess, I would think maybe he was saved. But it doesn't necessarily mean that he was. What I like about Cyrus is that he recognizes once again, just like Nebuchadnezzar did, at least before he became full of pride, they both recognize they've been used by God in a mighty way. Cyrus says, it is the Lord God that's given me all these kingdoms of the earth. Now, you know, it's very easy. We see, you know, if you know the story of Nebuchadnezzar through the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar becomes very prideful in his conquest of the Babylonian empire. Even though he knows it's God that's delivered Judah and the other surrounding nations, you know, obviously Jeremiah's been preaching that God has allowed this to fall in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, though Nebuchadnezzar becomes extremely prideful and God has to judge him in a serious way, and then Nebuchadnezzar gets saved. But I just want to show you that even before Nebuchadnezzar was saved, God was using a wicked king of a wicked nation to fulfill his work. And in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, he was to fulfill the judgment of God upon the people of God there in Judah. And now we have another king on the scene, another power, a new power, a new normal, as we would say. And once again, now Cyrus, he says, look, it's God that's given me the kingdoms, and God is stirring in the heart of King Cyrus. Now brethren, the reason I say this is because one of the greatest challenges that I think I found amongst individuals within this church, and maybe even within New Life Baptist Church, was this resistance to think that God could be using our governments to judge our nation. You know, because largely, we just want to think of the government as completely off their face, completely rebellious and completely stupid and completely wicked. And yes, you know, many of those things are true, brethren. But one reality that we learn in the Bible is God can use the kings, the politicians, our premiers, our prime ministers, and God can stir something within their heart to fulfill God's purposes. And I do believe this COVID world that we've lived in has been the purpose of God. You know, I can see some work, you know, the moving of God and the work of God to some extent, but I don't think we're fully going to see God's plan until we probably go home to be with God in heaven. And then we can ask him, God, what was the whole thing behind COVID? Why did you allow this to take place? And you know, we've got the benefit of the Scriptures that we can see how God can touch the hearts of kings and premiers. And you know, the Queensland premier has opened the border for Queensland, to enter back into Queensland. I can't help but think that God has stirred that woman's heart. As much as, you know, her being in power, you know, I almost want to resist that thought, but she does have the power. You know, she has been allowed to take power in Queensland and yet something within her heart has allowed her to open up the borders once again to Queensland. I just see it as the movement of God. Now surely God has a plan, has a timing, and it's not the timing that I would have liked. You know, you guys know that my time was returned back to Queensland in October. And now, you know, I've got to wait till, well, at least next week, but you know, we won't be able to move back to some time in March. And I just have to accept that, you know what, God, you've got it all under control. You know, I'm your child, you move in the hearts of the kings, you move in the hearts of the politicians, as wicked as they can be. And yet, you know, we just have to rest in that thought that everything is in God's hands. You know, God is King of Kings and He is the Lord of Lords and He is above all the powers that are in this earth. And, you know, when we think about this pastor and his family moving back to Queensland, it's going to be sad for me because I've really enjoyed your company. I've really enjoyed being back in Sydney. But I also have to see that as God's hand moving me forward to do a work back there on the Sunshine Coast, being able to be a full-time pastor for that church. Now let's have a look at Ezra chapter 1 once again. Let's go back to Ezra. Ezra chapter 1 verse number 1. And let's just remind ourselves of what it said here in verse number 1. Now, in the first year of Cyrus, King of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up in the spirit, sorry, stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, King of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and put it also in writing saying. So what we're going to be doing for this first chapter is really just a bit of a Bible study. We're just going to build a bit more of an understanding of the book of Ezra, what's taking place here, so we can better then understand the following chapters that are there contained in this book. So what I want you to do, since Jeremiah was mentioned there, please keep your finger there in Ezra and turn to Jeremiah chapter 50. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 50, please. Jeremiah chapter 50. And let's just remind ourselves of this great prophecy of God, the prophecy of Jeremiah, that Cyrus, King of Persia, would be the king or would be the power that would overtake the Babylonian empire. And we see that there in Jeremiah chapter 50 verse number 1. Let's just remind ourselves of what the Bible taught here. It says in Jeremiah 50 verse number 1, the word that the Lord spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. And so Jeremiah 50 was the judgment that would fall upon the Babylonian empire. Verse number 2. Declare ye among the nations and publish and set up a standard. Publish and conceal not. Say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces, her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. And so Jeremiah sees this great prophecy of the king of Babylon being destroyed. But by what army? By what power? Look at verse number 3. It says, For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein. They shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast. And of course this great power coming from the north was the Medo-Persian empire. And King Cyrus would eventually become the king of that empire. And that's what we're seeing there in the book of Ezra. But I want to just remind you, God has prophesied this through Jeremiah. God, once again, he's in charge. He's got control of the powers on this earth. The powers that rise, the powers that fall. The premiers that embarrass themselves and have to quit their positions. And the ones that God raised, and then he takes them down once again. It's all in the hands of God. God knows the future. You know, we don't have to be concerned about the wicked politicians that we deal with. You know, there are some good ones in the mix of it all, but brethren, there are so many bad politicians. I think every state has one, don't they? Every state has maybe multiple horrible politicians, but we see that God is the one that raises them up and takes them down as he sees fit. That we should never be afraid. We should always trust the hand of God. That God is allowing us to live in a nation that he has control over. He knows the future. He knows who's going to be taking place. He knows whether we can cross borders. He knows whether we can have church. God knows these things and he allows these things once again for his purpose. Now I want you to drop down to verse number 4 there, Jeremiah 50 verse 4. In those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come. They and the children of Judah together, going and weeping, they shall go and seek the Lord their God. So when will the children of Israel return back to the land? Once this new power takes over Babylon. As I said to you, this is of course the Medo-Persian empire. Look at verse number 5. They shall ask the way to Zion. Zion is another reference to Jerusalem. With their faces wither with a word saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. So brethren, why is God allowing now the Jews to return back to the land of Judah in the book of Ezra? Because the people's hearts have changed. You know, they were in captivity for 70 years. Now when we look at the book of Ezra, it's estimated the book of Ezra was written about 50 years into the captivity. So they still have another 20 years to go. But preparations of science being made, they can go back to the land and start rebuilding the city. Rebuilding the temple, rebuilding the city. And so it's been about 50 years when we get to the book of Ezra. But you can see that God can already recognize within the Jews that their hearts have changed. Now the generation that went into captivity, that was a reprobate nation. That was a wicked generation. Now 50 years into it, what are we dealing with? The children, the grandchildren, the next generations. And their hearts have been softened. They've gone through the captivity, they've gone through the hardships. And now it's these children, the children's children, that are saying, Let us return back to the Lord. Let us return to this covenant. What covenant do we see there? A perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. Now that's interesting. Those words that they're saying. Because we know that the old covenant is done with. It's finished. There is no perpetual Old Testament covenant. So what covenant are they looking forward to? What perpetual covenant are they looking forward to? There's only one covenant that fits the bill. And that's the new covenant. That's the New Testament. They're looking forward to a new covenant. And who is the one that brings in that new covenant? The Lord Jesus Christ. It's by His shed blood that brings in that new covenant. And you're there in Jeremiah. Please go to Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 verse 31. Jeremiah 31 and verse number 31. Jeremiah 31 verse 31. It says here, Behold, the days come, save the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was an husband unto them, save the Lord. So we say that God will one day bring this nation into a new covenant, not the old covenant that was given to Moses and the people that came out of Egypt, but a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. And brethren, we know that when we enter into this new covenant, this is the Israel of God, a spiritual nation, no longer a physical nation, which was part of that old covenant. The new covenant is a spiritual Israel, a spiritual nation, which we're all part of. Whether you're Jew, whether you're Gentile, whether you're bond or free, male or female, there is no difference within this covenant. We enter into this covenant by believing on the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I just wanted to show you that once again. So these people return back to the land. We know the Jews' hearts are right with God now. They want to come back into the land. They're looking forward to the new covenant that was prophesied by Jeremiah, the new covenant that would be ushered in by Jesus Christ. This is why the Jews had to return back to the land. It wasn't because the land itself is special or you pick up the dirt and you're going to be blessed. You're not going to pick up the dirt in Israel and just rub it all over your face because you're going to receive a blessing by God. That's not what's special. What's special about it is they needed to be in the land so that Jesus Christ would be born in Bethlehem and that he would die in Jerusalem and that we would bring in this new perpetual covenant for all generations, for all people. That was the significance of returning back to Judah. So let's go back to Ezra now, Ezra chapter 1 and verse number 2. And yeah, like I said, it is a bit of a Bible study tonight. I hope I don't go for too long. I'll try my best. But verse number 2, it says, The Lord God of heaven have given me all the kingdoms of the earth. That's true. That's a true statement. And he have charged me, look at this, to build him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. He says, look, the Lord's put it on my heart to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple. How is it that this foreign Gentile king has a desire to rebuild that temple? Because that temple was always for all nations. It was for all people to see the presence of God at this time under the Old Testament rules. But you can see he's called him to build a house at Jerusalem. You know, the house of God again in the Old Testament was that temple. It was that tabernacle. The house of God in the New Testament is your local New Testament church. It is Blessed Hope Baptist Church. It is New Life Baptist Church. And you know what? God has charged me to build him Blessed Hope Baptist Church. He's charged me to build him New Life Baptist Church. These are things that God can put upon your heart. And you know what? And not only is God going to put it upon your heart, he's going to give you everything necessary to ensure that this house of God continues for the next generations. And I look at Blessed Hope Baptist Church and as I said, it saddens me that I'm going to be returning back to Queensland. But look, God's given me a charge up there as well. We've got that church as well. And we're going to see as we keep going the importance of everyone coming together to build the house of God. So as I said to you, it's been prophesied in Jeremiah, we've seen this before, 70 years of captivity. As I said, it's been about 50 years now and the plan is being put together to rebuild this temple. Let's keep going there in verse number 3. Ezra, chapter 1, verse number 3. The question gets asked by King Cyrus. Who is there among you of all his people? Who is there among you basically that can help me get this job done? That can build this house? Which of you Jews that want to return back into the land am I going to give this task to? It says, his God be with him. And let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. Now I want you to notice this, that building the house of God, not only is it a charge that God gives to some people, but the question gets asked brethren, who is it? Who is there among you of all his people? And brethren, we need a pastor for this church. We need a man to rise up and take over this church and I can't wait to give this church over to a new man, a new pastor, or hey, maybe a new life at this church, maybe God raises a man up there, or I can give that church to that man. But the question is, who is there among you of all his people? And brethren, I know some of you have it in you. Have a desire to one day be a pastor, one day to maybe start a church, or maybe one day to take over this church. And if that's in your heart, you've got to work on that. If God's put that on you, you've got to work toward being that pastor. Figure out what is it that you need to work toward. Is it your Bible knowledge? Is it your preaching? Is it your love for the brethren? Is it your service? Is it your leadership in your house? What is it? You know, it can be all elements that you need to work toward, but I'm asking the question again, who is there among you of all his people that would take this church off my hands? I feel like I'm King Cyrus kind of like. God's put it in my heart, let's build this church, let's build blessing above this church, but I actually need someone else to step in and take over. You know, and I'm not in a rush. You need to understand. Hey, you know what, this is about 50 years, right? They did not all return till 70, 20 years, okay, to get it all done, to get it all ready for people to come back to Jerusalem. There's no rush. There's no rush. Once again, I promise when we started this church that I'll be here for 10 years if I have to. And to be honest with you, brethren, if we go 10 years and this church still keeps going, I'm probably going to say to you, I'll do another 10 years then. Most likely, okay, but hopefully, Lord willing, we'll find this man, a man that can take charge of building, continue to build this house here in Blessed Old Baptist Church. I'm not in a rush. You know, if it's in your heart, man, to do this, you know, don't be in a rush. Just, you know, work toward it. Start preparing yourself to take the responsibility of being a pastor and leading the house of God. Now, you know, when it comes to, obviously, pastor in church and leader in church, it's not something that we can all do. It's not something that is necessarily going to rest in the hearts of each one, all of us, okay. But even though you may not be that person, you may not be that pastor, you may not be that family that desires one day to get into full-time ministry, you still have a role to play when it comes to building the house of God. And it says here in verse number four, it says, And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver and with gold and with goods and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem. These are amazing words. These are the words of King Cyrus, a Gentile king, right. What is he saying? He says, look, for those of you that remain, for those of you that I'm not going to get actually involved in the work, you know, we're trying to find this man or we're trying to find several men that can take over and rebuild this house, but for the rest of you, you know, for the rest of you Jews, for the rest of you that are God's people, we need you to come together and put a collection together. You know, bring your silver, bring your gold, bring your goods, your beasts, whatever it is, your freewill offering to make sure that all the resources, everything that we need, the manpower, you know, whatever it is that we can continue operating the house of God. And, brethren, I recognize that we're not in a stage yet where we can have a pastor for this church, but I'm very thankful for each one of you that give faithfully to all this church, to the working of this church, to paying, you know, the finances that we need to pay the lease and to pay for new tracks and to pay for the electricity and to pay this pastor or whatever other man that will come up here to take over and lead this church. You know, it's important that God's people, even though it may not be you that is the pastor, but that God has put it on your heart to give toward the work of God. You know, we all need to contribute in some way or fashion. And, brethren, you know, again, I'm very thankful for everyone that's been contributing. I'm not saying you need to contribute more. You know, give of your tithe. That's what God expects from you. And I'll be preaching on that topic at some point again one day in the future. But, you know, this is what God requires. He needs us to work together. To build the house of God requires teamwork. Everyone needs to get involved. Some people are going to lead the challenge. Some people are going to pick up the tools and work hard. But then there are others that can help and provide the needs and the work that needs to be done for the house of God. What we're seeing here in the book of Ezra is God is now starting to open the doors of the return back to Jerusalem. And I think the timing is great. As I said to you, I kind of picked this book today because I see the doors opening once again for God to allow me to return back to Queensland. And, you know, this is one of the things that I've learned in my life. And we all need to learn that our timing is not God's timing. I mean, it's a wonderful thing when your timing actually lines up with God's timing. But most often than not, it's not going to line up. You know, God has his timing. And one thing that we need to learn to pray when you're making plans and you're thinking about the future is say to God, look, I'm not sure which direction to take. I'm not sure which way to go. But, Lord, can you please open the doors? Can you make it very clear to me if you want me to walk a certain way, take a certain path? Yes, sometimes God doesn't give you that one path. Sometimes God may give you several paths to walk. And then God just leaves it up to you to decide which one am I going to take. As long as one of those paths are not sinful. Obviously, any paths that are sinful or wicked or against the kingdom of God, obviously that is wrong. That's not where you want to go. And, you know, you're just seeking and you see what God has opened and you walk in accordance to that door that God has opened. But, you know, it's also good to ask God, can you close certain doors at the right time? You know, I've seen in my life many times where God has closed doors and it's very obvious that God has closed. And I've asked him to close certain doors, but then I kind of want to keep them open. You know, I kind of want to bang down that door, Lord, let me in, let me in. I want to go through that door, but that door's been closed. You know, I wanted to go back in October. As I said, you know, I'm trying to open that door. Can I get back to October? Can I get back? No, the door was closed. But, you know, I asked God, can you open certain doors? Can you close certain doors? And he does. And we need to be sensitive to that, you know, to the leading of the Holy Ghost and ask God for our direction, for our future. You know, each one of us, you know, God has plans for us. God wants us to serve him with our lives. And, you know, you may not necessarily be in Sydney your whole life. You don't know where you might be. I never thought that I'd find myself on Sunshine Coast. You know, before I even thought of that place, I didn't even know there was a Sunshine Coast. Even if you asked me to put it on the map somewhere, I don't know where I'd put it. I'd probably put it south of Sydney or something. I had no idea what the Sunshine Coast was. But you know what? God opens doors. God closes doors. And we need to be sensitive to the leading of God. You know, King Cyrus here was sensitive. He knew there was a stirring in his heart. You know, God was directing him to open the doors for the Jews to return back to the land and start to begin rebuilding the house in Jerusalem. Verse number 5. Ezra chapter 1, verse number 5. With vessels of silver, with gold, with goods and with beasts and with precious things beside all that they willingly offered. And you can see here that God's Spirit is also moving in the hearts of other people. The chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin. And they, you know, they looked at what they had. They looked at their wealth and abundance. And, you know, it looks like they were doing quite well after being taken into captivity. Things were working out for many of these people. And they were able to, as it's said there in verse number 6, strengthen their hands. They were able to give more generously toward the work of God than what they initially thought. You know, God is the one that strengthens our hands, brethren. I'm not just talking about offering. I'm not just talking about finances here. You know, we can all serve in the house of God. You know, we can all, you know, pray and serve and find something to do in God's house. You know, if it is just picking up the rubbish. You know, just at the end of the service looking around, picking up the rubbish and put it in the bin. Maybe that's something God has for you. You know, maybe it's just collecting the hymn books and putting them all back in their place. You know, maybe that's God's work for you. You know, maybe for others it's the song leading. For others it's the preaching. You know, for others it's the Bible reading. You know, God gives us different opportunities to serve in his house. And if you feel that you're not able to, let me recommend that you ask God to strengthen your hand as it is here. Strengthen their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts. And with precious things besides all that was willingly offered. You know, give of yourself willingly to the house of God. You know, I want Blessed Up Baptist Church to continue serving the Lord at its fullest capacity. But we need everybody to be involved. We need everybody to serve one another and see how God can strengthen your hand. I'm sure there are many more things you can do in the house of God. You know, if it's more soul winning. Or getting more consistent with the soul winning. You know, whatever it is that you can do to continue doing the work that God has left us here at Blessed Up Baptist Church. Let's look at verse number 7. Ezra chapter 1 verse number 7. It says, So you may recall that before the house of God the temple was destroyed. That Nebuchadnezzar would come in with his armies and they would strip the house of God with all the gold. All the silver. All the precious things that were in the house. And Cyrus takes those precious vessels. Instead of keeping it for himself. Instead of keeping it for his kingdom. Instead of being something that he elevates himself with. He says, no, we need to return these vessels back into the house of God. And Cyrus sounds like a saved guy. I don't know. I mean we don't know. I can't be dogmatic on this. But he definitely has a heart for God. You know. And let's keep going there. Verse number 8. Silver basins of a second sort. Four hundred and ten. And other vessels a thousand. All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Shezbazar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem. What else do we notice here? We notice that when God commissions the rebuilding of his house. He makes sure that the manpower is there. He makes sure that the resources are there. Why do I believe that Blessed Baptist Church is a church that God wants started? Because when we started this church, the resources came together. The location came together. The families came together. The giving came together in order to help this pastor travel week in, week out, back and forth. I mean it all just started to come together, brethren. You know, God makes sure that the house of God has everything it needs that we can serve him faithfully. You know, I know last week, you know, there was probably not many in the house of God. Maybe four or five of you. I don't know. I don't know, brethren. You know, many of us were taken out by COVID and not many people come for the midweek services anyway. But you know what? God gives us everything we need. Remember Christ says where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. If we got two or three in church, brethren, we're having church. If we have two or three, the preacher, preach like you're preaching to a hundred people. It doesn't matter. We're here to serve Jesus Christ. We're here to serve the house of God. And God provides what we need, the manpower, the families, the finances, the resources. God gives it all. And brethren, we're here in this building, you know. We've got new chairs. We've got the painting done. We've got a mother's room. We've got the live stream. You know, it's not a very big place, but God gives us the resources we need at the right time. And I know this is the doing of God. We've been here already serving God in Fairfield East for, how long has it been now? Three, three and a half years. Three and a half years already. And you know what? New Life Baptist Church, you know, almost four and a half years where God has used that church in a mighty way. You know, I truly believe God has given us everything we need for these churches because these are churches, these are houses of God that He wants planted. And it's all going to come together. But again, I want to show you Cyrus' heart. What does he do with the vessels that were stolen from the house of God? He returns them. He returns them. And my question to you Brethren is, you know, God has given us different gifts. God has given us different talents, different abilities. You know, what are you going to do with these talents, abilities that God has given you? Are you going to keep them for yourself? To serve yourself? Or are you going to take these things that God has given you and give them to the house of God, to serve God in His house? I want you to turn to Daniel chapter 5, please. Turn to Daniel chapter 5. We can turn away from Ezra now, but Daniel chapter 5 and verse number 1. After Nebuchadnezzar, his grandson ruled. And in Daniel chapter 5, his grandson is Belshazzar, which we'll read about now. And in Daniel chapter 5, verse number 1, it says Belshazzar. This is the king of Babylon before the Persian Empire came in and overtook him. But it says Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whilst he tasted the wine, commanded to bring, look at this, the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem, that the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines might drink therein. So look how wicked this man is. He takes the precious vessels from the house of God that Nebuchadnezzar had taken out and he takes it and he uses it for himself. He uses it as a party. We can all drink together. We can all drink from these vessels of the house of God. They're drinking alcohol. They're turning these things into abominations. These things that were there to serve God in His house, brethren. He turns it to a wicked practice, drinking his alcohol, having this wicked party. Verse number three, and they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God, which was at Jerusalem, and the king and his princes, his wives and his concubines, drank in them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood and of stone. And so they're worshipping false gods. They're worshipping mammon. They're worshipping wealth, you know, with these objects that belonged to the house of God. So I want to show you Belshazzar's heart here versus Cyrus' heart. They both have the same riches. They both have these same gold and silver vessels that came from the house of God, but don't they treat them very differently? Belshazzar absorbs it for himself. You know, look at how rich I am. You know, look at all these things that we've taken from God's house and now we're using it for some stupid party, getting drunk. No, Cyrus says, no, you know what, we've had this, praise God we've had it, but now it's time to return it back. You know, I feel almost like Cyrus feels like God has entrusted him with these beautiful riches to be brought back into the house of God. And so you can see the hearts of two different kings, how they treat the things that belong to God. Once again, brethren, God has given us abilities. He's given us talents. He's given us life. He's given us, you know, a church. He's given us brethren, and you have the ability. You know, God has given you so many things to serve him, to serve families, to serve the brethren, to serve our brothers and sisters in the Lord, to serve Jesus Christ in the house of God, but what are you going to do with the things that God has given you? Are you going to take these great riches for yourself, for worldliness, you know, just to profit yourself alone, or do you want to give to the house of God, you know, to serve him faithfully in his house? Let's turn to one more passage. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew chapter 25, please. Matthew chapter 25 and verse number 14. Matthew chapter 25 and verse number 14. And we'll look at this very familiar parable. Matthew 25, verse number 14. The words of Christ. He says, Now the talents in this story, of course, is, you know, some financial wealth. A talent is a certain weight. And so when you were back in those days, you know, you would measure your wealth by the weights or by the talents in this story. Now, of course, the servants here represents those that are serving Jesus Christ. In fact, actually one of these men, I'm not even saved, I'll explain that to you later. But this man that is traveling to a far country obviously represents Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ leaves his servants these talents. And notice that these talents were given to them according to, what was it, to their several ability. And so there are some that could do more with the talents that were given. And the master knows this. He knows there are some that can do more. They've got more abilities. They've got more talents. And brethren, I don't believe it's a coincidence that the word talents is being used here. Because when we think about abilities, don't we often think about talents? You know, God has given us different talents. And so if we take that thought there, you know, each one of us have different abilities. We all have different talents to serve God in his house. Some of us have more than others. Okay? Some of us have ten. Some of us have five. Some of us have two. Some of us have one. The point is we all have at least one. We can all serve God to some capacity. And he keeps going there in verse number 16. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained another two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money. So that sounds smart. He took this one talent. He doesn't want to lose it. He digs it in there. He hides it and then he can't lose it. Yeah, but then he can't do more. He can't be productive. He can't use the talent that his master had given him. Verse number 19. After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. And brethren, one day our Jesus Christ is coming back. Our Lord is returning. And when he returns he wants to reward us for the work that we've done for him. Verse number 18. And he that had received one, sorry, what am I up to? Verse number 20. And so he that had received five talents came and brought him other five talents. So that's ten all together saying, And so you can see that the Lord wants to reward us. He wants us to take the talents, the abilities that he has given us to serve in his house. You know, not to dig it and to put it to waste and not to serve him or to just use our talents and abilities for ourself. That's not the desire that Christ has. He wants us to use these talents for his kingdom, for his service, brethren. And when Christ returns he's going to reward us. One day we're going to rule and reign with Christ on this earth. And some of us are going to have greater authority levels in this new earth to come. Let's keep going there. Verse number 22. You say, well, I haven't got five talents. Well, maybe you have two. It says, So even this person had less ability to serve Christ. Christ still looks down at him and says, well done, good and faithful servant. And brethren, I want each one of us, you know, that when Christ returns that he would look down at each one of us, that he would look at Blessed Baptist Church and say, well done, good and faithful servant. But you've got to use your talents. You've got to use your abilities. You know, King Cyrus took those vessels that belong to the house of God. He goes, no, these belong there. We've got to take them back to the temple. You know, King Belshazzar says, no, I'm just going to, you know, absorb these for myself. My talents, my abilities, these riches, it's all for me. None of this is for God. You know, make sure that you take your abilities and use it to serve Jesus Christ. Verse number 24. There thou hast, that is thine, his Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful servant. Thou knewest that I had reaped, that I reaped where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchanges. And then at my coming, I should have received mine own with usury. Usury is interest. So you basically should have just put it into the bank and earn some interest on it. Verse number 28. Now if you know your Bibles very well, this outer darkness, this place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, this is hell. This is what I'm telling you, this one servant is actually not even saved. Because, you know, once saved, always saved. Everlasting life, you know, we cannot lose our salvation. I don't want you to be left thinking that if I don't serve Christ with my life, then I'm going to be cast into hell. That is a false doctrine. There are some people that teach that, that stupidity. No, once you are saved, you're saved from your sins and you're saved from hell. But what this shows us, and this is a parable. When it comes to a parable, when it comes to a story, an illustration, this is to help support sound biblical doctrine. You don't want to make a biblical doctrine on a parable alone, otherwise you start teaching that you can lose your salvation. The point is here, he was given one talent, he was given one thing. And you know what, the one thing that each and every person on this earth is given is the gospel. You know what, we can either take the gospel and believe it, trust Jesus Christ with our life, and we can be sure of going to heaven, or you take that gospel message that's been delivered unto you, and you dig it under the ground, you put it into the dirt, and you don't care about it, you know. And yeah, when the Lord comes back, he's going to ask you, what did you do with the one thing that he has left us, the gospel. And for those that have not believed on Christ, they are that wicked and slothful servant. They will be cast into outer darkness. You see, it takes no work to believe in Jesus Christ. Just like it is to take one talent and to put it in the money exchanges and earn interest, which is free. It doesn't cost you anything. You know, that's what salvation is. The moment you mix the gospel with faith, you've invested in salvation, you've invested in everlasting life, and you can never lose it. But this wicked and slothful servant never did that. You know, he took that one talent and buried it in the ground. Anyway, that's a side thing. The point being, God has given us all these abilities. And brethren, what are you going to do with it? You know, I am going to return back to Queensland. We're going to need each and every one of you to step up and serve in this house of God. You know, God has planted Blessed Our Baptist Church for his purpose, for his kingdom, you know, for his work. And I'm really asking you guys to just search your hearts. And you know, you've been great church members. I don't want you to misunderstand. You've been beautiful church members. I love you all. But you know what, maybe God has something greater for you. You know, a greater work for you to accomplish here at Blessed Our Baptist Church. And I'd ask that you think about it. You know, what talents, what abilities has God given you? Are you going to use it to serve yourself, or are you going to use it to serve the Lord Jesus Christ? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you for your word. Lord, thank you for this new study from the Book of Ezra. Lord, I pray that he can be a blessing to each one of us, that he would cap off this series that we've worked through, through Jeremiah and Lamentations. And Lord, thank you that we can see these words that were prophesied by Jeremiah come to pass. Lord, that you are someone that will fulfil these promises that you've given, Lord, to the people of Judah that were in captivity. And Lord, we can also trust the future prophecies to come, that one day our Lord Jesus Christ will return. And Lord, when he does return, we want him to look upon our life and look at our church and say it, our good and faithful servant. Lord, help us to take all our talents, all our abilities to serve him and help us not to be selfish. Lord, it is so easy to become selfish. It is so easy to be caught up in our own lives, Lord, in our own mansions, in our own kingdoms on this earth, Lord. But we want to put our attention and focus upon your kingdom, upon your house. Lord, you've given us blessing of Baptist Church here at Fairfield East, Lord, and I pray that you'd pulled the resources, the manpower together, Lord, to continue this church, continue, Lord, reaching this community with this gospel. And I love you so much, Lord. I love this church that you've given me, Lord, as a pastor, Lord. And I pray that you'd move in the hearts of a man, that you'd charge him, Lord, that you'd lay it upon his heart to desire to work towards taking over this church as pastor one day. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right, brethren, let's take our hymnals. And since, well, there was one hymn that Tim wanted to sing, but we didn't have music for it. It was number 19. Hymn number 19, maybe. Let's have a look. There is a fountain. Yep, it was hymn number 19. Nicholas, can you just check one more time, is there hymn number 19? If not, we'll sing it a cappella. There's none. All right, we'll sing There is a Fountain. And let's sing it a cappella. Ready? There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day And there may I go vile as he Wash all my sins away Wash all my sins away Wash all my sins away And there may I go vile as he Wash all my sins away The dying lamb, thy precious blood Shall never lose its power Till all the Ransomed Church of God Be saved to sin no more Be saved to sin no more Be saved to sin no more Till all the Ransomed Church of God Be saved to sin no more Essence by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply Redeeming love has been my thing And shall be till I die And shall be till I die And shall be till I die Redeeming love has been my thing And shall be till I die Then in a noblest winter sun I'll sing thy power to save When this poor lisp in staring time Lies silent in the grave Lies silent in the grave Lies silent in the grave When this poor lisp in staring time Lies silent in the grave Great singing. Brother Ramsden, would you close this in a word of prayer? Yes, in a word of prayer. I have an invite to thank the Lord and the Church of God as a portion of the work. Please, Lord, help us walk in our hearts because you've done faithful work in your house to serve you and to be found standing on top of all the world. Thank you for our salvation, Lord. We love you so much. Amen. Amen. You're dismissed. Thank you. Amen. Amen.