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The last week, I was in a church, and I started a big party, and I had one student who was going to sit down with me, and he started talking to me, and I said, Hey, can you get a 12-day party? And he said, He must have done something for me already. He was watching me, and he said that I got chicken, and I put some honey, and I said, He said that honey, so that it could stop me. It's what happened to the honey? I said, It's the next day, and I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. It's a tough time, though, sometimes when we can't help you. We can't come to your mouth. I can't do that. We can't help you. We can't help you. We can't help you. I'm not doing that. I think it's smarter. I think it's some of you, some of us. This is you and I treated you. Please. Please. I'm not my best friend. I'm not your friend. I'm not your friend. I'm not your friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. I'm not your best friend. Do you need help? I need help with that. Yeah, I need help. No, I need help with that. I need help with that. Have you been doing anything for them? Have you just got a fish oil? No, I'm taking fish oil. I'm taking fish oil. Anything for them? No, maybe they'll be able to. I don't think they'll be able to. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. They teach you nothing to do something. You always do things. Yeah. You only know what to do. Yeah. Yeah. Because you can tell you you don't know what to do. You have to know what to do. Especially when you need help. You don't know what to do. Yes, I know. You have to learn. You have to learn yourself. If you are here, if you come here, you don't know what to do. If you are here, you don't know what to do. That's something that I didn't say. I can't say it now. It might be that you don't know what to do. Thank you for putting it up. This is just all for you. Yes. It's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. No, no, no. I don't think it's money. It's what you make. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. Alright, brave men, welcome to the church this afternoon or this evening. Please take your hymnals. Let's do some favourites. Can anyone find me a song? Choose me a song, somebody. Who's got a song they like to sing? Yes, Matthias? 134, which is? My Anchor Holds. 134, My Anchor Holds. One, three, four. Though the angry surges roll on my tempest-driven soul, I am peaceful, for I know, wildly though the winds may blow, I've an anchor safe and sure that can evermore endure. And it holds, my anchor holds, blow your wildest and old gale, on my box of swollen frill, by his grace I shall not fail, for my anchor holds, my anchor holds. Mighty tides about me sweep, heralds lurk within the deep, angry clouds will shade the sky, and the tempest rises high. Still I stand, the tempest shock, for my anchor grips the rock, and it holds, my anchor holds, blow your wildest and old gale, on my box of swollen frill, by his grace I shall not fail, for my anchor holds, my anchor holds. I can feel the anchor fast, as I meet each sudden blast, and the cable though unseen, bears a heavy strain between, through the storm I safely ride, till the turning of the tide, and it holds, my anchor holds, blow your wildest and old gale, on my box of swollen frill, by his grace I shall not fail, for my anchor holds, my anchor holds. Troubles almost whelm the soul, griefs that billows on me roll, tempt to seek to lure astray, storms obscure the light of day, but in Christ I can be bored, I've an anchor that shall hold, and it holds, my anchor holds, blow your wildest and old gale, on my box of swollen frill, by his grace I shall not fail, for my anchor holds, my anchor holds. Amen. Great singing. Brother Tim's going to come up for the next two songs, but let's go to a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we want to thank you that we can be in church this afternoon, Lord, in your house. Lord, we just pray that everything that we do, Lord, all our singing, our praises, our speech, Lord, our fellowship will be honourable to you. Lord, we seek to honour you and we love you, Lord, because you're such a great God. You've given us friends, family, Lord, you've given us salvation. Lord, you've given us so many great blessings, and Lord, we're looking forward to the future, to be with you for all eternity in heaven. We can't wait for that day, for the return of Jesus Christ. So, Lord, I just pray you be with us tonight. I pray you work in our hearts and teach us great truths from your Word. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right, bro. Thanks. Thought I'd lost my spot. Never. Okay. Turn in your hymnal to Lead Me to Calvary, hymn number 15, Lead Me to Calvary. King of my life, I crown thee now, Thy crown thee now, Thy shall the glory be. Lest I forget thy thorn, crown, brow, Lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane, Lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary. Show me the tomb where thou wast laid, Tenderly mourned and wept, Angels in robes of light array, Guardest thee whilst thou slept. Lest I forget Gethsemane, Lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary. Let me, like Mary through the gloom, Come with a gift to thee. Show to me now the empty tomb, Lead me to Calvary. Lest I forget Gethsemane, Lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary. May I be willing, Lord, to bear, Daily my cross for thee. Even thy cup of grief to share, Thou hast borne all for me. Lest I forget Gethsemane, Lest I forget thy nagony, Lest I forget thy love for me, Lead me to Calvary. Where the faithful part no more, Where the storms of life are o'er, meet me there. Where the night dissolves away into pure and perfect day, I am going home to stay, meet me there. Meet me there, meet me there, Where the tree of life is blooming, meet me there. Where the storms of life are o'er, On the happy golden shore, Where the faithful part no more, meet me there. Here our fondest hopes are vain, Tear our streets of ranch and swain, But in heaven a throb of pain, meet me there. By the river sparkling bright in the city of delight, Where our faith is lost inside, meet me there. Meet me there, meet me there, Where the tree of life is blooming, meet me there. When the storms of life are o'er, On the happy golden shore, Where the faithful part no more, meet me there. Where the hearts of angels ring, And the blessed forever sing, In the palace of the King, meet me there. Where in sweet communion blend, Heart and heart with friend, with friend, In a world that ne'er shall land, meet me there. Meet me there, meet me there, Meet me there, where the tree of life is blooming, meet me there. When the storms of life are o'er, On the happy golden shore, Where the faithful part no more, meet me there. Yeah. Okay. Ezra chapter 7 and is it brother Matt? Of course it is. Coming up for the ball reading. Matthew chapter 7. Oh yeah. Alright, Ezra chapter 7 starting in verse 1. Now after these things and the reign of Adaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra the son of Sariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Shalem, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitab, the son of Amoriah, the son of Azariah, the son of Mariah, the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzziah, the son of Buckeye, the son of Abishua, the son of Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the chief priest. This, Ezra, went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. And the king granted him all his requests according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the priests and the Levites and the singers and the porters and the Nethenim's, unto Jerusalem in the seventh year of Adaxerxes the king. And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month which was in the seventh year of the king. For upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month came into Jerusalem according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. Now this is the copy of the letter that king Adaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe, of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel. Adaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace and at such a time. I make a decree that all they of the people of Israel and of his priests and Levites in my realm, which are minded of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. Forasmuch as thou art sent of the king and of his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand, and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem, and all the silver and gold that thou canst find in all the province of Babylon, with the free will offering of the people and of the priests, offering willingly for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem, that thou mayst buy speedily with this money bullocks, rams, lambs, with their meat offering and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. What service shall seem good to thee, and to thy brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold that do after the will of your God? The vessels also that are given thee for the service of the house of thy God those deliver thou before the God of Jerusalem. And whatsoevermore shall be needful for the house of thy God which thou shalt have occasion to bestow, bestow it out of the king's treasure house. And I, even I at Xerxes the king, do make a decree to all the treasurers that whatsoever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of God of heaven, shall require of you it be done speedily. Unto an hundred talents of silver, and to an hundred measures of wheat, and to an hundred baths of wine, and to an hundred baths of oil and salt without prescribing how much. Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven. For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? Also we certify you that, touching any of the priests and the Levites, singers, porters, nethanims, or ministers of the house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom upon them. And now, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thine hand, set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river. All such as know the laws of thy God, and teach ye them that know them not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, and hath extended mercy unto me before the king and his counsellors, and before all the king's mighty princes, and I have strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me. Let us pray. God, thank you for allowing us to come to church today. We pray that you will fill Pastor Kevin with the Holy Spirit as he preaches, Lord, and help us to be attentive to the preaching, and help us to learn and grow spiritually from the preaching that we hear. In Jesus' name we pray these things, Amen. All right, brethren, Ezra chapter 7, and look at verse number 10. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord. Ezra had prepared his heart. The title for the sermon this evening is Prepare Your Heart. Prepare Your Heart. We are introduced finally to Ezra. We've been reading the book of Ezra. We've gone through the first six chapters. Where's Ezra? He finally appears on the scene, chapter 7. We've only got 10 chapters in this book, and Ezra makes an appearance toward the end now. But here's the point. The thing is, as we saw in chapter 6, they finished building the house of God. If you look at verse number 1, it says now after these things. So after the house of the Lord has been built, now it's time for Ezra to come to the land. God has a work for him. This is essentially the second movement of people out of Babylon, the Jews out of Babylon, to return back to the land. The first one was with Zerubbabel who went to build the house of the Lord. The second exit out of Babylon, or mass exit if you want to look at it that way, is of course Ezra, and then the third great exit is Nehemiah. Read about that in the book of Nehemiah. All right, let's start with verse number 1. Now after these things, in the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra, the son of Saraiya, and the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah. Now before I keep reading, we'll keep going back. We'll look at the lineage, the ancestors of Ezra there. But some people, I understand why. It is a little bit challenging to know for certain which king this is. You say, Pastor Kevin, it's King Artaxerxes, you're right. But several kings of Persia were known as Artaxerxes. You know, I was doing a little bit of reading about this. It wasn't just a name, it was many times just a title as well, similar to the title of Pharaoh. Obviously many people that went by the name of Pharaoh, well many people as kings of Persia went under Artaxerxes. And so there is some, from even from a historical and biblical history perspective, there is some disagreements as to exactly how much later did Ezra come back into Babylon after the building of the house of God. It could have been up to maybe even 50 plus years after the house of God was finished. You may recall when we looked at chapter 6, it was King Darius on the scene and now we have King Artaxerxes. And so there are different views as to who this Artaxerxes was. It doesn't really matter too much as Pharaoh. I just want you to be aware of that, that when you read Artaxerxes, it's not always the same guy. Many of the kings went by the same name. All right, so we're finally introduced to Ezra. And what did we learn about him? That he's the son of Sarai, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, Versamut 2, the son of Shalem, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, the son of Amorai, the son of Azariah, the son of Merahaioth, the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzai, the son of Bukai, the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the chief priest. So what else did we learn about Ezra here? That his family lineage are the priests. He's a Levite. His whole family line have been serving in the house of God and so Ezra is a descendant from a long line of priests. Now Ezra serves as a scribe. He's not serving as a priest. His role, we'll soon look at this, is as a scribe. But go back to Versamut 1 again. It says that Ezra the son of Zerahiah. So let's remind ourselves who this Zerahiah was. Who is he the son of? If you can keep your finger there and go back to Jeremiah. Go to Jeremiah chapter 52. Jeremiah chapter 52, the last chapter in the book of Jeremiah. And I think it's good to go back and just have a look at who Zerahiah was here. And so you can kind of know a little bit more about Ezra. I kind of feel bad for Ezra when I start to look at this and I go, yes, Zerahiah, I've heard that name before. Which priest was it again? In Jeremiah 52 verse 24, please, Jeremiah chapter 52 verse 24, it says, and the captain of the guard. So this is when, obviously Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar and his armies, they've come in, they've taken over Jerusalem, they're burning down this place, they're burning down the city, and it says the captain of the guard took Zerahiah, that's Ezra's father, the chief priest. And that makes sense because we looked back at Aaron the chief priest, so yeah, that idea of the priestly line, the chief priest, does come down the line, or the ancestry of Ezra. It says then Zephaniah the second priest and the three keepers of the door, what happened to these guys that were taken? Drop down to verse number 27, it says, and the king of Babylon smote them and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land. So Ezra's father was killed by King Nebuchadnezzar. He was put to death and then the remnants were carried away into captivity into Babylon. And now we have Ezra, he's getting his opportunity to finally leave and return back to the land with a group of people. And so, just for your information really, but you know, I love this about Ezra. His father, he's in the light, the lineage of priests, they're all serving the house of God. His own father's been cured by the hand, ultimately the hand of God because it's God that allowed the Babylonians to come and destroy that place. And you see Ezra, he just keeps serving the Lord. You know, I guess he could have been downcast that his family have suffered by serving the Lord God. Now you may sometimes feel downcast when you see the people of God going through suffering and going through trials, maybe even death. But I think what we learn from Ezra is that motivation. No, he continues serving the Lord. Ezra's aware that the nation was wicked. Ezra's aware that the hand of God's judgment fell upon and even though his own father was put to death by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. But he keeps serving the Lord God. Verse number six please. This Ezra went up from Babylon and he was a ready scribe, so there it is, there's his occupation, he's a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given and the king granted him all his requests according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. So what is a scribe? You know, sometimes we see about Jesus Christ when he walks on the earth in the books of Matthew, Matthew, Luke and John. Some of his oppositions were the scribes and Pharisees, right? The lawyers, et cetera. A scribe, you know, it's not too complicated. A scribe is someone that writes. That's what a scribe is, right? They were a record keeper in these days, all right? They would copy manuscripts. They'd make copies of manuscripts and books and of course one of their jobs would be copying the manuscripts of the scriptures, all right? So the fact that he's a scribe, it says they're ready scribing the law of Moses, tells us that yes, Ezra was someone that would copy manuscripts, that would make copies and copies of the Old Testament scriptures because he was writing there in the law of Moses. Scribes were also used for administrative tasks such as just keeping record of business records and court proceedings. You know, this is what scribes would do. They would record historical events. In fact, that's what the book of Ezra is, okay? The book of Ezra isn't so much a book of the prophets in the same sense that we think of Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, I'm sorry, yeah. I'm losing track of, yeah, Ezekiel, okay? It's different. He's a historian, as it were, okay? The book of Ezra records history of what took place and Ezra, you know, the reason he's introduced in chapter number seven, it's not because, you know, he's not sort of the main guy in this book. He's recording history. He's a historian as well. He's writing down the events of the Jews returning back to the land and how the kings have given them permission to do so. And then eventually he finds himself part of the story and so he writes of himself as well, okay? So let's keep going there, verse number seven. And there went up some of the children of Israel and of the priests and of the Levites and the singers and the porters and the Nephinims. The Nephinims were people that assisted. They were not Levites, but these were people of other tribes that assisted in the house of God unto Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, the king. And so as I said to you, this is the second mass exodus out of Babylon. And, you know, even though it says, you know, verse number six, this Ezra, it kind of sounds like Ezra is not the writer of this book, but he most definitely is, right? He's writing about himself in the third person in this first chapter. But if you drop down to verse number 28, in the same chapter, look at verse number 28. So now we have King Artaxerxes speaking to Ezra and Ezra responds to you in verse number 28. It says, and have extended mercy unto me before the king and his counselors and before all the king's mighty princes. Then it says, and I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me and I gathered together out of Israel our chief men to go up with me. So who's I? I, Ezra, okay? So it's definitely Ezra writing about himself. Sometimes he writes about himself in the third person. I mean, even when we've gone through the book of Jeremiah, sometimes we saw Jeremiah in the first person, sometimes we saw Jeremiah in the third person. But don't forget the reason for this primarily is because Ezra, at the end of the day, is not really the author of the Bible, okay? The Holy Ghost moved men to write down these words and Ezra was being moved by the Holy Spirit of God. Not only is this a book of history, but it's also scripture. It is also the words of God, all right? So let's keep going there. Okay, back to verse number eight, please. Verse number eight. And it says, and they came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was the seventh year of the king. So again, for those that just want to work out a bit of timing here, so they came to Jerusalem in the fifth month. So they're leaving Babylon, they come or leave in Persia and they arrive in the fifth month. So when we look at verse number nine, it says, and upon the first day of the first month began he to go up from Babylon. So the first day of the first month, he leaves Babylon and he arrives on the fifth month, all right? It says here, and on the fifth, on the first day, so again, it's not the first day of the fifth month, came here to Jerusalem according to the good hand of his God upon him. So how long was the journey? Four months. Four months, that's it. Well done. No trick questions yet. In fact, it's exactly four months. It's the first day of the first month when they leave Babylon and the first day of the fifth month when they arrive into... Sorry? Okay, sorry. When they arrive into Jerusalem. All right, now what I love about verse number nine, it says this, at the second half of it, or sort of the end of it, it says, according to the good hand of his God upon him. Now the reason I love that so much is because this is a long journey, several months. As they leave several months and it says that God's good hand was upon him. And you know, this is one of those proof texts why we, many times we would pray before, I talk to many Christians, many Christians do this and sometimes even just traveling to church, we do this. We pray for safe travels. You know, any time we pick up our bags or as a family we travel between Sydney and the Sunshine Coast in our vehicle, we often get in the car, we stop and pray and say, God, please bless us on our journey. Keep us safe. Have your good hand upon us, et cetera. This comes from this idea. You know, and I would highly recommend that if you're making a long journey, wherever it is, from point A to point B, that you call upon the Lord, that you ask him for his good hand on your journey. This is a long journey, four months. It's going to take a while with this group of people to get there onto the land. You know, I've heard numerous stories, you know, growing up in Christian, in churches and even just recently I heard some stories of brethren that might be traveling, you know, people that might travel from Sydney to Adelaide or even from Queensland to Sydney, et cetera, where they've had car problems on the journey, all right? And it's kind of like just with prayer, with some duct tape and a miracle, they're able to make it to point B. You know, they're finally able to get to their destination before they have to, before their car breaks down. And I've heard many stories like this. Many people have told me, I remember a friend from an old church who told a story where he was traveling for the Outback and something broke down. He was losing, how was he losing? He was losing, what's the flu that keeps it cool? Coolants, that's it, coolants. He was losing coolants and he just got some tape of the best that he could. He wasn't even duct taped, taped it all together. It was still leaking. He went as far as he could. He eventually got to the end line. There was like literally nothing left of coolant but yet his engine survived the journey. You know, I hear these stories many times from Christians who are able to recognize, man, I should not have been able to make that journey but God's good hand was upon me. Well, let that be an encouragement to you if you are going to make some long journey that you get in the habit of asking God to bless you on that journey. Now, verse number 10 is where we get the title for the sermon from. So let's look at verse number 10. It says, For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. So we see Ezra, he's coming to the house of God, the new built temple, right, the newly built temple with Zerubbel and all the others and he prepares his heart to come to the temple. Don't forget the temple is the house of God of the Old Testament and the house of God of the New Testament is, well, for you, Blessed Old Baptist Church is this house of God. And let me encourage you, just like Ezra prepared his heart, you know, when you come to God's house, you need to prepare your heart. I need to prepare my heart. I'm always trying to prepare my heart. You know, even if it's something last minute, Lord help me to get behind that pulpit and to preach a word of clarity. Lord, help me, Lord, to just be a vessel that honors you. You know, we need to prepare our heart as we come to the house of God. Let coming to church never be something that is just this mundane routine that you go through. You know, I've got to be in church or turn up because I don't want anyone to think bad of me if I don't turn up or something like that. You know, don't let it be just this sort of process that you go through. Prepare your heart. Prepare your heart. You know, our heart gets hardened, doesn't it? I want to learn something new. Lord, I want to hear from your word. Lord, I want to hear some great things from your Holy Spirit. Please move in me. Prepare your heart when you come to God's house. Ezra prepared his heart. And notice, not only is he preparing himself for the long journey, he's preparing, what are the three things that he's seeking to do as he prepares his heart? Number one, what is said there, to seek the law of the Lord. Number two, to do it, all right? It's one thing to know what God's word says, to learn from God's laws, and to teach. The third thing he wants to do is to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. And again, for those men that are going to be preaching on Sundays, you know, let me remind you that you need to prepare your heart, okay? Maybe you have sought the Lord. Maybe you're seeking, right? You're preparing a sermon. You know, you're putting things together. You need to seek God's word, all right? You want to do your diligent study. You want to be someone that does it, right? You don't want to be just a hypocritical person that gets up and says, hey, do X, Y, and Z commandments, but you yourself know very well that you have no desire to do it. And not just that, but also to teach. You need to prepare your heart to teach. Again, you're not just filling a role. You want to be a blessing to the brethren that would hear God's word and learn God's statutes and judgments. Can you please keep your finger there and go to Psalm 19? Go to Psalm 19. Prepare your heart was to seek the law of the Lord. Please go to Psalm 19, to seek the law of the Lord. Now, I am directing this to the people that are going to prepare to preach, but once again, this applies to all of us, all right? This applies to us all. Now, for those that are going to teach, let me tell you, you know, when you know it's your roster time to preach, all right, you need to spend time. Prepare your heart. You need to seek God's laws, all right? You know, I've got two weeks, I've got three weeks away from the time I'm going to preach. You know, I'll just leave that to the last minute. Now, please don't think, well, I've just got other things that I need to do. I've got to play my video games. I've got to get on Facebook and check the statuses and see what's going on. I need to get on YouTube. I need to start sharing all these things. I've just got other things on my plate right now. Now, I'm asking you that if you know you're scheduled to preach, please make it a priority. Give it the right time in order for you to discover great truths from God's Word. Look at Psalm 19, verse number 7. Psalm 19, verse number 7. It says, The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. You know what's wonderful about getting ready to preach God's Word as you study? It's going to make you wiser. Seek God with an open heart. Drop down to verse number 10. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Pastor Kevin, I don't have time to work on my sermon. I've got to work overtime for a bit more money. It says here, More to be desired are they than gold. Spend your time. Please prioritize God's Word and go out to Krispy Kreme Donuts. I haven't got time to work on God's Word and God's sermons and preaching. No, it says here it's sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. God's Word is sweet. Sometimes when we swallow it, it's bitter. Sometimes when we absorb God's Word it can be bitter because it actually is contrary to the flesh. But it truly is sweet. It truly does add wisdom. So, brethren, please be someone that prepares your heart for God's Word as well. You come seeking. You know what the man of God that is getting behind the pulpit to preach? You come preparing yourself that you would receive what is being taught from God's Word. The second point there was to do, right? His heart to seek the Lord of God and to do it. To do the law of the Lord. Can you please go to Psalm 119? Go to Psalm 119 for me. Psalm 119. You know God's Word. It's truly wonderful to have your wisdom increased as you study God's Word. But don't forget to be a doer. James 1-22. But be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Brethren, you may have great knowledge of the Bible. You might even be more correct on doctrine than me, brethren. But if you're not doing it you're deceiving yourselves. Are you keeping his commandments? Are you walking through his judgments? Or are you just making excuses? Who cares how much you know? If you're not doing it, it's pointless. You just deceived yourself. You think you're wise, but you're not doing it. It's so important that when we hear God's Word we apply it to our lives. You know Jesus Christ says Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them shall be found upon a rock. And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock. If you want to be strong in your spiritual life, if you want to be unmovable no matter what difficulties and what problems comes your way then you need to not just hear God's Word you need to do God's Word. If you have difficulties you can't deal with the difficulties that you're going through in life. Brethren I ask you to examine your heart. Have you prepared yourself to not only seek God's Word but to do God's Word? Are you doing it? Because Jesus Christ says it's not just the one that hears the sayings of mine and doeth them. You hear it, you do it then you have built your house or your life upon the rock of Jesus Christ. Which are his words. The stronger you will be. The stronger person you will be. Please go to Psalm 119. Psalm 119. I love this passage of scripture. Psalm 119 verse 99. Sometimes I'm asked. People assume, I'm sure most of you guys know, I've never gone to Bible college. I've done some Bible college courses through my local church and my pastor teaching the same kind of curriculum. Some of them, not many. Some people just assume that I've gone to Bible college. In fact I met someone recently that said you're a pastor and you've spent time training and learning in Bible college and I'm like nah, not really. I've just come to God's house. God's house is the pillar and ground of truth. I love this because it says here in Psalm 119 verse 99 that all my teachers, how do you get to a point where you understand more than your teachers? How do you get to a point where you have more knowledge than the people that were teaching you? It says for thy testimonies are my meditation. That's why I know more than my teachers because I spend time in God's testimonies. I spend time and I meditate upon God's word. I don't just read my chapter and you spend time meditating. God, how does this apply to me? God, what can I take out of this passage? What can I do differently so I'm more aligned with your chapter that I read this morning? You meditate. Then you become more knowledgeable than the teachers that taught you. Look at verse number 100. I understand more than the ancients. Why does the psalmist know more than the spiritual forefathers that have gone before him? He says because I keep thy precepts. I've learned of God's commandments and I'm doing what I can to keep those commandments to walk in his paths. Then he says I know more than my teachers. I know more than the ancients that have gone before me. This is where God's word gives you wisdom but you need to spend time in meditation in keeping and doing God's word not just being a hero only. And the third thing that we saw was Ezra prepared his heart to teach the law of the Lord. To teach the law of the Lord. To teach. And again I'm directing mainly to the men that are going to preach but we're all commanded to teach. Don't forget. If you're a parent, teach your children. If you're a grandparent, teach your grandchildren. We all have opportunities to teach one another. I've got no one to teach Pastor Kevin. Then teach people the gospel. Jesus Christ says in Matthew 28, 19 Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And we know that teaching all nations is preaching the gospel. You go door to door. You spread the gospel to your loved ones, your friends and your family. You're teaching. We all have the opportunity to teach but brethren before you teach you need to seek God's word and then when you seek it you do it. That will strengthen you, give you wisdom, give you understanding and then you go forth and you teach others. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 6 mainly to the people, just this part of the chapter to those that will be teaching. And I want you to be very careful men because it says here in verse number 6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling. You know some people turn aside from God's word, right? They get behind the pulpit. I want to be a teacher. I want to teach God's word but then you go to other sources. You go to other things. I think of vain jangling. I think of keys. I think of that. That's vain jangling. Pastor Kevin why are you jangling those keys? No reason, it's vain. It's empty. You can go to a lot of churches and this is it. Pastor gets behind the pulpit. Oh man I learnt so many things. It's vain. It's vain jangling. We don't want to come to church for vain jangling. It's vain jangling understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. Brethren if you come and teach the Bible you come and teach behind this pulpit you must teach the Bible. Okay? Teach the Bible. I don't care about your investigation into your history books and into your sciences and into all the theories that are out there about different things. Brethren we need to just hear from God's word. It's sufficient. If we needed more God would have put it in His word. Six, six books. The entire canon of scripture. It's enough for life. God's word is timeless. We don't have to change God's word to suit 2022. In fact we need more of God's word in 2022. Okay? We need to hear from God's word. Please don't turn aside to vain jangling. If you start preaching vain jangling I'm going to pull you off the roster. Because you're not going to benefit anybody. We prepare our hearts to hear from God's word. Verse 7, verse 11. Ezra 7, verse 11. And by the way, I'm not having a go at anybody. I actually think the men that are going to be preaching are going to do a great job. 100%. I've got your backs. I'll be praying for you. I'll be listening to the sermons. I'll be giving you tips as I pick up on different things. I'm very thankful for the men that have put their hand up to preach. I'm going to teach you great truths. Verse number 11. It says, Now this is the copy of the letter that the king, Artaxerxes, gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord and of his statutes to Israel. Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time. The decree, I guess, the commandment that Artaxerxes has given Ezra as they go back to Jerusalem to help continue the work of the house of God. But it's quite interesting that he refers to himself in verse number 12 Artaxerxes, king of kings. That might sound prideful because when we think of the term king of kings, who do we think about? Of course, we think of Jesus. But when you think about on the earth, he literally is the king of kings. He's on the earth at this time. He's ruling, he's taken over Babylon, the Medo-Persian empire, they've taken over Babylon, they've taken over Assyria, they've taken over the great powers that have come before them. And so of course he is king above the kings that were before. But notice that this is not a title that he gives himself out of pride because, and I love this, King Artaxerxes seems like a decent guy, but he says king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, is the god of heaven. He says, yeah, I'm the king of kings, I'm the greatest power on this earth right now, but you've got a god in heaven, right? And the god of heaven, of course, is overall. And so I love that. He's able to recognise, no, actually the god of Ezra is the god of heaven. He's above the earth. Yeah, I'm ruling on this earth, but god is above the earth. I like his heart. I like this king's heart a lot. I wish we had kings like this, actually, in Australia. Let's take a decree. This is what he says. And all they of the people of Israel, so it says everybody that's been in captivity, in Babylon, in Persia, all they of the people of Israel and of his priests and Levites in my realm, which are minded of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee. He says, look, any of the Israelites, any of the Jews, anyone that wants to go back, if it's your own free will, go ahead and leave. It's quite interesting that they don't all leave. Remember, 70 years of captivity and generations that have gone. Many of the people that have grown up in Babylon are the Jews. They know Babylon. That's their home. Being in these foreign lands, that's no longer foreign land to the people. They are the new generation and I assume many of them, they built houses and got married into the land and this is what they knew. And so even though the king gives free will to all the Israelites to leave, they don't all leave. Now, a great multitude do leave with Ezra but obviously they don't all leave. Later on we see Nehemiah going through this process once again with another group of Jews as they go back into the land. But again what I like about this, what we can take out of verse number 13 is he's telling the people of God, leave and go to God's house, go to Jerusalem out of your own free will. And brethren, when you come to church, the house of God, let it be out of your own free will. Make sure that it's something that you've purposed in your own hearts. Let me not be a pastor that forces you to be in the house of God. I don't want that. If I see you in God's house, my thought is you're here based on your own free will and that's how it ought to be. It's my job to just preach God's word and then it's between you and God to decide how you're going to apply what you've heard from God's word. I make it a mandate. What if you're going to be part of the blessing of the Baptist Church, you've got to be in the house of God every service. Do I want you to be in the house of God every service? Of course I do. But if I start mandating this, I start forcing. In fact, once that happens you know you're in cult. Let me put it that way. You've got the free will to come, you've got the free will to leave. It's up to you. I'm never going to force you out but I'm not going to force you in. If you want to come to God's house, let it be your own free will. There are many churches that force people to come to God's house and it's like, well, you better come to God's house because if you don't, you won't go to heaven. Well, if you don't come to God's house, you'll lose your salvation. It's blasphemy. People that try to mandate and force you. I've heard stories. My wife, she was born in Australia but her family came from Portugal. Portugal is a very Roman Catholic nation and the poor people of the country land, they basically had to be in church. They had to come to the Catholic church and they would mark down your name and if you didn't come, you'd be in trouble with the priest. The priest would come to your house and I think my wife showed me this or I've heard this from other stories where the priest might come, if you hadn't come to God's house, they might come into your house and take for themselves whatever they wanted. They could take the family cow, for example. They could take certain elements but it's never going to be that way at Blessed Baptist Church. If you come to God's house, let it be out of your own free will. Let's keep going there, verse number 14. For as much as thou art sent of the king and of his seven counsellors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand, and to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counsellors have freely offered unto the God of Israel whose habitation is in Jerusalem. So the king's saying, look, we're going to send our silver and gold to you as well. Not just with your own possessions but we're going to send our own silver and gold so you can go there and do what you need to do with the house of God. Verse number 16. And all the silver and gold that thou canst find in the province of Babylon with the free will offering of the people and of the priests offering willfully for the house of their God which is in Jerusalem that thou mayest buy speedily from the priests, rams, lambs with their meat offerings and their drink offerings and offer them upon the altar of the house of your God which is in Jerusalem. And so the king speaks about a free will offering. He says, look, just take everything like, you know, people are willing to just give their gold and silver so you can come into the land and buy these animals so you can offer them upon the altar. You know, quite often we would know this as a free will offering. So the tithe is not a free will offering. That is something that God expects His people to give to the house of God. But sometimes people give a free will offering they will give above and beyond for whatever reason. You know, God's put it in their heart to give for the work of the house of God and you see that the king here is doing that with his counselors, the other people of the land. If they want to give a free will offering to the people, that's what they're organizing. Verse number 18. to do with the rest of the silver and the gold that do after the will of your God. So he says, basically, look, if you've got excess, you know, we're sending you gold and silver, we're giving you finances, but if there's too much, then you don't need to return it back to us, he says. You know, you don't need to come and give it back to us and say, look, you've given us an excess. He just says, look, whatever is in accordance with God's will, just spend that money in accordance with God's will, Verse number 19. He goes, look, if you're lacking, then just come to the king's treasure house. Come to my treasure house. Take whatever you need, Ezra. I mean, this is a God-fearing king. I hope he was saved. He sounds like he may very well have been. He definitely has a heart for the God of Ezra here. Verse number 21. Whatever he needs, give it to him quickly. Don't delay the work. Verse number 22. And then to a hundred baths of wine and to a hundred baths of oil and salt without prescribing how much? And then he says this in verse 23. I think verse 23 is really profound. He says, He says, whatever God needs for his house, feel free to take it from us. Man. And then he says this. So does he fear God? Absolutely he fears God. He says, look, just take what you need. Whatever God wants, just take it. Because I don't want God's wrath. Why should God's wrath fall upon my kingdom? Why should God's wrath fall upon my realm? Why should God's wrath fall upon me and my sons? He goes, just, he's got a fear of God. He's got a fear of God. And I think it's wonderful. Keep your finger there and please go to Psalm 2. Please go to Psalm 2. When I think about this fear of the king that he has here, he doesn't want God's wrath upon him. He wants to be blessed by God. I have no doubt that he was blessed by God. The fact that he loved Ezra, the people, the house of God, he's given them the resources, he's not trying to prevent them in any way, shape or form. And he's saying, look, I just don't want God's wrath in my life. And what I'm reminded of here is Psalm 2, maybe the King Arthur Exorcist has read Psalm 2. Maybe this is where it comes from. But look at Psalm 2 verse 10. Psalm 2 verse 10. He says, So how can the kings be wise? Be instructed, ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. He says, look, Psalm 2 is speaking to the kings of the earth. If you want to be wise kings, whichever politician, whichever prime minister, whatever premier, whatever president of this world, if you want to be wise, now Joe Biden doesn't seem like a wise eye to me at all. He seems like a complete buffoon. But if he wants to be wise, what does he do? It says he needs to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Look at verse number 12. Kiss the Son. That's speaking about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Man, I don't want to be a politician that does not fear God and a little bit of God's wrath will destroy them, will destroy them. Boy, whichever prime minister, president, whichever politician might be listening to the sermon tonight, you know, let me encourage you to be wise. Let me encourage you to fear God. Let me encourage you to do that which is right, to bless the house of God. Let me encourage you to put no laws that prevents God's people from doing their work for God and then God will bless you. Have a fear of God in your heart. You know, you see, King Artaxerxes had a fear of God. Back to Ezra chapter 7. Ezra chapter 7 verse number 24. Ezra 7 24. Also, so in addition to all of this, also we certify you that touching any of the priests, the Levites, singers, porters, Nethinems or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute or custom upon them. He goes, look, anyone that's serving in God's house, anyone that has an official position that earns a wage serving in God's house, he says, we're not going to tax them. Okay, you're tax exempt, he says. Right? Now, you say, well, none of them should be paying taxes. Well, maybe you're right, but listen, they're under a foreign power. Obviously, under a foreign power, you know, other nations, the people that are under them are paying taxes and, you know, yes, we pay our taxes as well, right? But this king, he's got such a great heart, he's never going to require any, for them to pay anything of their service toward this kingdom, you know? No tolls, no tributes, no custom, no taxes. A tax-free employment that they could have. Now, you know, I've, like, churches in Australia, we can get tax benefits, okay? If you register as a charity, I've never registered Blessed Hope or New Life After Church as a charity, but if you did, you can get tax benefits, okay? You know, for example, you know, a lot of the things that we purchase, you know, it has GST, goods and services tax. We pay electricity, we pay GST on top of that, right? We buy utensils, we buy tracks, whatever it is that we purchase chairs when we purchase them, right? We're paying GST. Now, if I register as a charity, you can basically get that GST back. You can get the GST expenses back into, so in other words, the house of God can operate tax exempt if we wanted to. Now, I never have, you say, why have you never done that? It's simply because I never really wanted any real involvement of the government in the house of God, okay? The reason this is happening, again, don't forget it's a foreign power, okay? And they're saying, look, just, you know, you can operate tax-free. Now, I'm not saying that it's wrong for a church to have charity status. You know, one of the many questions that I had when I started both churches was, so are you going to register your church with the government? I'm like, what do you mean register? Like, you've got to have an ABN to operate as a business, you know? Yes, we have an account that I run the numbers by. Is that what you mean? You know, we try to do things by the book as best as I know how, as best as what we need to, all right, just so we can do what is right and orderly, you know, and yeah, if one day I need to register as a charity, I will, but I just don't think I need to right now, but maybe I will. Some people have this sort of strange idea that the house of God should have no registration or no documentation with the government. But listen, if you want to claim tax exemption, you have to. You have to register as a charity. Now, what we see here is that the king is giving them tax exemption, right? He says, look at verse 24 again. It says, and we certify you. You know, he's basically saying, look, to certify something is to register something, right? He's basically saying, look, we're registering you and your workers as tax-exempt employees. That's what's happening, okay? You can't turn around and say this is sinful and wrong and churches should not do this. We've not done it because it's just, I don't feel comfortable about it at this point in time. I might do it in the future, but it's not something that I'm pressed toward doing, but you know, there are some Christians that will not go to a certain church because they have registered themselves with the government. And I just think you're insane. It's like you haven't even read the Bible, okay? I mean, how can you read the book of Ezra and not realize what's going on? Like, you must be reading the Bible and just not understanding what's happening in God's word, right? Look, we don't live in a nation that has a covenant with God. Like, we don't live in the nation of Israel. You know, the powers that be, the governments, these are basically powers that have no covenant with the God of the Bible. Okay? And they're going to operate like a worldly system. Now, ideally, they will listen to God's word. Ideally, they pass laws that align themselves to God's word. That's what we hope for. You know, hope that God works in the heart of our politicians the way God worked in the heart of King Artaxerxes. But you need to remember that the reason King Artaxerxes is allowing all of this to take place is because God is working in his heart. We'll look at that again later, okay? But God is putting these things in his heart and the king turns around and says, look, you can have tax exemption. We're going to certify this. Then there can't be anything sinful or wrong to register your church with the government to get tax exemptions or tax benefits. There's nothing sinful or wrong with it otherwise you're saying what God put in the heart of this king was sinful and wrong. Okay? So, you know, it's just people like this. But Pastor Kevin, you know, I read somewhere that churches should not, you know, go to the government because government will have control. Let's just preach the Bible. Preach the Bible, okay? You want to know how governments and churches correspond? Preach for Ezra or something, okay? You know, learn what God's word says. Stop getting carried away with the Constitution and get carried away with the Magna Carta and the, you know, United Nations human rights and whatever it is that you, you know, you're putting your heart and trust upon. Just put your heart and trust on God's word. See what God has to say? Is it fine for a church to operate without registering as a charity? Of course it is. Is it okay for a church to operate registered as a charity? Of course it is. This is just documentation. It's just paperwork. Who cares? You know what? The church is the people. It's not the building. It's not the chairs. It's not this pulpit. This is how they need to operate this time. You know? This teaches us that basically everyone else, everyone else that was working in agriculture, everyone else that was going back to the land of Judah, they had to pay their taxes. But the king gave tax exemption to those that are serving in God's house. All right? Let's keep going there. Verse number 25. It says, We're going to read about Ezra. Now we get to promotion. So he's a scribe, okay? He says, Ezra gets a promotion. He goes from being a scribe to now he's the one putting the government together over Jerusalem, over Judah. He says, look, you get to choose. You set whichever magistrates, the people beyond the river, all such that know the laws of thy God. Man, what a great government. Can we do that? Can we as Australians turn around and say, hey, if you want to run for office, if you want to run as a politician, you've got to be someone that knows the laws of God. How good would that be for our nation? This was awesome. It's coming from a foreign power, a foreign king, okay? Ezra gets such a promotion, he's putting the judges together. Look at verse 26. Sorry, did I reverse? I did reverse 25, didn't I? Sorry, there was just one part at the end that I wanted to cover. It says, all such that know the laws of thy God. And then it says this, So you teach them, because I know you're a scribe You teach those that you put into power how to govern according to God's laws. All right? Verse number 26. What else does it say? He says, look, Ezra, you've also got the power and I'm giving your government the power to put people to death. You've got the power to punish criminals the way you see fit. You know, when the Roman Empire in Jesus' day were governing over Judea, King Herod, for example, the power base over Judea, they were not allowed to put anyone to death without Roman permission, okay? So the Roman Empire had more control over the governance of Judea in Jesus' time than what King Artaxerxes has enforced. In fact, he says basically, you guys decide. You don't need permission from Persia. You don't need permission from my government if someone has done wrong, if someone has committed crimes in accordance to your laws, you can put them to death. You can banish them. You can imprison them. You can confiscate whatever it is that you need to confiscate. Man, this is awesome. So Ezra, what a great promotion that Ezra gets. He gets to choose the governments. He gets to punish. He doesn't even have to ask for permission. Verse number 27, and this is the part that I wanted to show you that I kind of mentioned earlier. It says, So notice this. Yeah, the king fears God. The king's doing all these wonderful things, but who's put this in the king's heart? It says, So brethren, who put it in the heart of the king for the workers of God's house to be tax exempt? God put it in the heart of the king. Okay? So to turn around, it's wrong to register as a church. It's wrong to get tax exemption. God put it in the heart of the king. And these are blessings. But again, people don't know God's word. They haven't studied God's word. Prepare your hearts. Preachers. It's a serious thing to come behind this bullpert and teach people God's word. Please don't teach your opinions. Please don't teach your biases. Don't teach your preferences. Just teach God's word. You know, as I came here, as I was teaching you guys through Jeremiah, as we're going through the mandates, restrictions, the lockdowns, brethren, let me, honestly, I preached so much in Jeremiah that I didn't want to preach. I preached so much in Jeremiah that was contrary to my preferences. Okay? But who cares about my preferences? We don't come to God's house to hear anyone's preferences. We come here to hear God's word. God's word's been preached. And it's a blessing to know what God has to say. Look at verse number 28. And have extended mercy unto me before the king and his counsellors and before all of the king's mighty princes. And I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord. My God was upon me. And I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me. All right, so what do I want to end on? I want us to look at this story. Number one, I've already spoke extensively about preparing your heart. You know, whether you're going to get up here to preach or whether you're coming to God's house to learn, please prepare your heart to receive God's word, not just to receive it, to do it. And ideally that one day you will teach those that God gives you authority over. Okay? But number two, I want you to see how God works in the hearts of a foreign power, a king. Okay? How God can move the hearts of kings and politicians for his service. Okay? And, you know, again, I look at what we read there. I can't get over verse 27. You know, when I was preparing this sermon, verse 27 just spoke out to me the most. Let me just read it once again. Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which have put such a thing as this in the king's heart. You know what we need in Australia? We need our politicians to have their hearts open for the moving of God. We need our politicians to have a fear of God. We need our politicians to pass laws and judgments that are in line with God's word. We need God to do a mighty work in their hearts. And so what I propose, brethren, next week, next Thursday, is a time of prayer and fasting. We're going to have service as per usual. You know, we'll come to the house of God, we'll sing praises, I'll preach once again, but I'll preach a much shorter sermon. And I think we need to put our government before God in prayer. I think we need to put our prime minister, our politicians, our premiers before God in prayer You know, you guys know very well that in a month, less than a month, we're going to be going back to Queensland. And I want to be travelling. My goal is to be travelling every week as per usual. We'll start thinking ahead, you know, what the plans are. And, you know, I don't want to see any more restrictions and lockdowns and problems that might stop us from fellowshipping and being in God's house. But, you know, if we're not taking our politicians before God, how can we expect things to get better? So I propose next week, let's go to the Lord. Let's say, God, you did a mighty work in the heart of King Artaxerxes. You did a mighty work for Ezra. Can you do a mighty work for us? Can you work in the hearts of our politicians that we can serve you, that they can actually bless us as we serve you in God's house? Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for your word. Lord, thank you for the great things that we learn. Lord, for the Brooks of Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezra. Lord, there's so much that we can apply to us today. Lord, I pray, Lord, that you'd bring a fear of God in the hearts of our politicians, Lord, whether it's through COVID, the bushfires of the past, the floodings that we've seen today, Lord, as well. Lord, I pray that the hearts of this nation will turn back to you, Lord. I pray that I have a fear of you. Lord, I pray that you use Blessed Up Baptist Church and other great churches that love you to reach the community, to preach the gospel, Lord, that the hearts of individual people will be turned toward you. And Lord, we also pray that there would be no further restrictions, no further lockdowns for meeting your house. Lord, I pray that next week's time of prayer and fasting be one that we'd focus upon you, that we'd prioritize the lives of this flesh, that we'd prioritize you, Lord, that, Lord, you'd see the hearts of this church, Lord. We want to see a great work for you, Lord, here in Australia, here in Sydney. And Lord, also, we ask that you'd bless the travel of this pastor and his family, Lord, between both churches, Lord. I want to see both churches succeed. I want to see both churches do a great work for you. Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, brethren, please take, we're not going to turn to our hymnals. Please take your Bibles and turn to Psalm, please, turn to Psalm 19. Now, it's time for my second sermon. My second sermon's only going to be half an hour, though. Now, we're going to sing Psalm 19. Let's, we're going to end with Psalm 19. Psalm 19, please, turn to Psalm 19. We haven't sung from Psalm 19 for a little while. So, just as a reminder, Psalm 19, we start with verse number 7 when we sing it, and verse number 10 is our chorus, yeah? Seven, then 10, then verse 8, then 10, verse 9, then 10, verse 11, then 10, and there was one more. Verse number 14, the last verse, and then verse number 10. All right, Psalm 19. Let's start there with verse number 7, ready? The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoice in the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Verse 9, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Verse 14, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Thank you for watching!