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Amen. All right. Well, we're in Ezra chapter number five, moving right along here in the book. And of course, in chapter one, we had the decree from Cyrus to rebuild the temple, and he gave all their stuff back from the temple after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it, after the 70 years of Jerusalem being laid to rest in its Sabbaths, after the prophecy of Jeremiah the prophet. And then we had all the children of Israel go back to their ancestry homelands where they had already lived before. And we saw the cornerstone being laid. They went back, they laid the cornerstone, they set up the altar, and started to do what God had said in the Old Testament, the Old Covenant. And of course, then the bad guys came and started to persecute them. In the last chapter, they got them to stop building the temple. They got them to stop the work by writing letters to the current king, not Cyrus. Cyrus had gone. He was no longer the king anymore. And so I kind of preached last week about how the enemies, once you start doing something great for God and building things, then they'll come and they'll do all manner of things to try to stop God's work from being done. And it really kind of continues into this chapter, but it's actually a pretty interesting chapter. I was thinking, what am I going to preach out of this chapter? But when I sat down and started studying it, there's a lot of good stuff in here. So my sermon title tonight is Civil Disobedience, because that's kind of a big portion of what I want to talk about. But we'll start with my first point though. My first point, there's only two points actually to the sermon, but the first point is the work continues with strong and godly leadership. And sometimes God in a generation, and we see in this generation that God sets up a lot of great spiritual leaders for them. And they're leaders that are governmental leaders, and also leaders that are spiritual leaders. And sometimes the government leaders are spiritual leaders. And so in this case, you have both. Look at verse number one, the Bible says, Then the prophets Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Edo prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Now, these are Old Testament prophets. And of course, there's books. There's the book of Haggai the prophet, there's the book of Zechariah the prophet. And these aren't the only spiritual guys that are there. Of course, you have Ezra, which is this is the book that's named after him that we're in right now. And then you have Nehemiah, who also builds the wall. So there's a lot of spiritual guys. And there's more than just that I think there was a whole group of spiritual people involved in this and God sets these guys up to, you know, be great leaders in this generation because it was really needed. I mean, Jerusalem was destroyed. They have a small remnant going back compared to what was already there in the first place. And really God needed to set up some strong leadership to get them through these trials and tribulations are going to happen due to the fact that their enemies already kind of thought, we've won, you know, the devil, no doubt thought he won when the temple was destroyed. And the children of Israel were taken into captivity. And then here they are building a way to serve God with all their might again. And so now the devil sews his enemies in, you know, the enemies were already sewn into land. Because if you think about it, those people in the last chapter that were from Samaria, Samaritans, they were sewed in from the Assyrian Empire. So these enemies were kind of deep seated into the area already. And when they were taken out, these children, these people that were from the Assyrian Empire were already kind of living in Israel. So they're kind of like, you know, how, you know, this is a bad example, but it's kind of a similar example. So Israel became a nation in 1948, although under different circumstances, okay. But there was already people living in Palestine, in Israel, in the land of Israel, when Israel declared itself, you know, the Balfour Declaration. And then there was the, you know, in 1948, when they declared themselves a nation, all those people that were living there, you know, had to be kicked out of those places. And so that's a lot of what the fighting about is over there is that they kicked a bunch of people out, they killed a bunch of people, and they've kind of just driven them into the West Bank. And now they're just basically killing everybody that's over there. So, but this is completely, these are godly people, a godly remnant going back into the land that, see, you know, it's important to understand that God's allowing them to go back in belief, all right. What you see over there today is unbelief. And so they're not really a godly nation, and God broke off Israel from being a nation that's, you know, He doesn't work with them as a nation, like He did in the Old Testament, like He does with the spiritual nation of Israel, which is all nations, but that's a sermon for a different time. But it's important to see that God is using the spiritual men, Haggai and Zechariah. I'm not going to have you turn there, but in the book of Haggai, chapter one, verse number one, it says, In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month and the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Sheltiel, governor of Judea, and to Joshua the son of Josadak, the high priest, saying, So the word of the Lord came through Haggai, so he is a prophet, God is speaking through this man. So this is a just, you know, this is a great man of God that God is using to preach to Zerubbabel, who is the governor of Judah at this time, and Zechariah, who's mentioned in verse number one, has a whole book called Zechariah, and he has some great prophecies in there, and it says, In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah the son of Barakiah, the son of Edo the prophet, saying. So these two guys that are mentioned in Ezra chapter five, verse one, have their own books, and these are contemporaries of Ezra, and of course you have, in verse two, Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Sheltiel and Jeshua the son of Josadak, and began to build the house of God, which is at Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God helping them. So this is important for any godly generation is to have godly leadership and to have godly prophets that are in place, and obviously modern day it would be like pastors and teachers and spiritual men. Any man can be a preacher. God wants all men to be preachers, honestly. He wants all women to be preachers too, just not behind the pulpits. He wants them preaching at the doors, amen? But he wants all of his people to preach, and so it's good to have a godly generation, but it's important to have leadership that's godly also. Now, who is this Zerubbabel? Well, I've kind of hinted around to you that he is in the lineage of Christ, so let's go ahead and turn over to Matthew chapter one. We'll see who he is to Jesus Christ. Matthew chapter number one. So it's important that the work continues, but it's also important that it continues with strong and godly leadership, and really it's not going to continue. Any work that's going to happen for God is going to happen with strong leadership, just like Moses, just like Joshua. When great things are done in the Bible, it's not when there's no leader. Usually when there's no leader and they're as sheep with no shepherd, that's usually a bad and negative time in the times of God's people. So when there is good godly leadership, that's a blessing to God's people. It's a blessing to that generation when there's people that will rise up and lead. Look, we're all equal in God's eyes as far as we're all God's children if you're saved, but there are people that God just chooses to lead, and some people are just leaders, and it's important. So, Korah didn't quite understand that. He thought everybody was supposed to be the leader, and look where he ended up in hell, kicking and screaming all the way down to the pit. So, there are people that are chosen to be leaders for whatever reason, and it's because they have the attributes of leadership. Look at Matthew chapter 1 verse 1. It says, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Skip down to verse 12. And after they were brought to Babylon, Jeconias begat Salathiel, Salathiel begat Zerubbabel. This is the same, different spelling, same Zerubbabel. And Zerubbabel begat Abiad, and Abiad begat Eliakim, and Eliakim begat Azor. Skip down to verse 17. So, all the generations from Abraham to David are 14 generations, and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are 14 generations, and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are 14 generations. So, I'm just showing you that to show you that Zerubbabel is a direct descendant of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, these are important people, and Zerubbabel is literally an heir of Christ. Now, go back to Ezra and look at chapter 7. And we'll kind of just see a little bit about Ezra. I don't want to spoil everything about Ezra in chapter number 7, but I do want to show you just a little tidbit about Ezra, who's actually the scribe that writes this book. And Ezra chapter 7 verse 6, it says, 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. So, notice the Bible says that the Lord had given. What does that mean? Well, he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses. So, that means this guy was ready. He was doing the work. He was obviously probably copying down Chronicles. I think that it's said that he did a lot of the compiling of the books of the Chronicles and actually finished some of the books of the Chronicles, second Chronicles. But he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses. He knew what he was talking about. He was a teacher. He got up and taught the people. It talks about that in the book of Nehemiah. But the Bible says specifically here that the Lord, which the Lord God of Israel had given. It says, And the king granted him all his requests according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. So, God's hand was upon Ezra too. And the fact that it says that God gave Ezra, he gave him to what? The people to be a blessing to the people as a leader. And he is a ready scribe. And he was actually in the line of Aaron of the priestly. He was a priest. Ezra the scribe was a priest. And go ahead and turn to Ephesians chapter 4. And we have to understand this fact that God gives leadership. And he gives leaders at the time, the types of leaders that we need when we need them. And sometimes he gives us the leaders we deserve. And of course we see that with the presidency that we're in even right now. Because God sets up kings also. And as God sets up rulers and sometimes he gives us the rulers that we deserve. And right now we have one that's just kind of confused, right? I mean, there was a big test that just came out and it said that he's like just like a well-meaning old man that doesn't remember things well or something. And they're still like, he's still the president. How's that possible? Well, it's what we deserve. They're not going to remove him. And it's just what America deserves. We've lost our way. So they gave us a president that's lost his way too. He can't even find his way off of a stage. So that's kind of how it is. Now look at verse 11 in Ephesians 4. It says, and he gave some. See that? He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and some teachers. He gave some. So he gave some in the Old Testament too though. He gave Ezra, didn't he? Isn't that what it said? That God gave Ezra? So God gives people that are spiritual leaders and people for the people and for the time that they're in. And you see this group of people that God sets up and he kind of names them all. Haggai and Zechariah and Zerubbabel and Ezra. And then you got Nehemiah and all these great men of God that are for that generation. Why? Because they're needed. And because for such a time as that, for such a time that they needed them, God set them up. And God gives them because he knows that we need them. He knows that we need leadership. He knows that there's a great need for it. And it says, for what though? Verse 12, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. So the perfecting to get us to be the best we can be. And for the work of the ministry. Because the ministry, you know, people, I know that this is like a byword out in public. Or, you know, oh pastors all day, they just don't do anything. You know, they get up and preach once a week and that's all they do. I wish that's all it was. But that's just not simply true. You know, really, it's, you know, your time is invaded a lot. And, you know, but that's what I've chosen to do. And so I don't complain about that. I'm just saying that that's just a fact. You know, but people think that, you know, maybe there is pastors if that's all they do. And I know that there's churches around here and they have one service a week. How's that possible? How are you a pastor and you can actually collect a paycheck when you only have one service a week? And it's a 15-minute TED talk. How is that possible? But it is. But it happens. And if they have two services, they have like a sunrise service and then an afternoon service and they preach the same sermon. So it's two 20-minute sermons and they just are perfecting the sermon they already stole from some other pastor from years past or something. They're probably not even writing their own stuff in a lot of cases, you know. But it says, for the edifying of the body of Christ. So God always has given appropriate leaders for the appropriate times. You got Abraham, Moses, Joshua. I mean, even Samson, as unspiritual as he was, Samson was needed for the time that he came, right? Samson came and he slew a thousand men with a job all over the house. God needed someone to to crack back on these bullies and he ended up killing them all in this, you know, in one big thrust. I mean, it's not exactly, you know, Samson didn't really fulfill God's plan the way he wanted it to to happen, but he still fulfilled his plan, whether, you know, it was the way he wanted to do it or not. Even King Saul, you know, he came for such a time as, you know, the children of Israel said, we want a king like all the other nations have. And so they rejected God as their king and chose a man as their king. And so God gave them the man that they deserved, didn't they? And Saul was good at first, but became bad, didn't he? And then God said, well, here, I'll give you one after my own heart and gave him David, right? So, and then after the captivity, you have this multitude of great men that they obviously needed. So, you know, strong and good leaders are a gift and they should be viewed as such. And, you know, they should be viewed as a blessing from God and treated with respect. And leaders are not people's personal doormat and whipping post, even though they get treated like that a lot of times. They're the ones that kind of take all the heat really. And it's just, it's part of the job. You know, most of the time people don't attack our church members. They usually attack me. So, and I'm glad that they do that. And when they start attacking our church members, that's when I get upset. So I'll defend our church members tooth and nail. I mean, there was one bozo that put a picture up of Eli one time and I was pretty mad about that. I tried to get it taken down, like, but they just wouldn't let me. But I would fight somebody over that one and it pissed me off really bad. Sorry, brother Eli. I didn't mean to mention that, but I was really mad about that. But yeah, but most of the time the leaders are the ones that are going to get the flack. And I think that most leaders know that that's going to happen. So, but it's just, you know, but it shouldn't be happening from God's own people. That's where it's crossing the line. You expect your enemies to do that, but not God's people. So you should be careful when criticizing leaders and especially in front of your children. You know, if you're going home from church and you're criticizing something I said in front of your children, you know, obviously if I say something wrong and you're correcting something and saying, well, I don't agree with pastor on this. This is what we believe or whatever. I'm okay with that because I'm not right about everything. And maybe you don't agree with me about something. That's fine. But if you're like, that's pastor's not right. Repentance is repenting of sin, then you're wrong. So kids don't listen to your parents at that point. I'm talking about just nuances of things that you might just disagree with me about, but to run me down in front of your kids, you know what that's going to do? It's going to make them run down their pastor when they get older. It's not doing them any favors. I can tell you that right now. And if you're wanting them to stick around church when you're just criticizing everybody else at church, that's a bad look. You shouldn't just be running down people, even church members, especially church members behind closed doors in front of your children, to your wife, to your husband. Obviously people, we have bad days and stuff like that. I get that, but it just shouldn't be happening. Anyway, let's turn to 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 12. 1 Thessalonians 5, 12. 1 Thessalonians 5, 12. The Bible says, And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. So even if you don't like the leader necessarily, maybe they're not your cup of tea, like they're not the kind of person, you don't necessarily really like their personality, or maybe they're just, it's not the type of person you'd be friends with outside of church, but you should still esteem them very highly for their work's sake. If that leader is doing a great work, then you should esteem them highly for it. Just forget about the personality clashes that you might have with them, or you don't like the way their face looks, or their body type, or how they breathe, or anything like that. What does that have to do with how they teach the Bible and how they lead? It doesn't have anything to do with that. When people result to personal appearance attacks on people, I mean, what do they got? If that's all they can attack you on, then whatever, but that shouldn't be why you like or don't like somebody. That's really a carnal reason to not like somebody, isn't it? So we should still esteem them very highly for their work's sake, and then it says, and be at peace among yourselves. Because if you're not at peace with you, you're always going to be upset because the pastor admonished you. What does that word admonish mean? It means to warn or notify of a fault. I'm going to get up here and preach stuff, and I might not even know I'm stepping on your toes, and I might be stepping on your toes, but some people will just say he knows. Somebody told him that I was doing that sin or something, and people will say, were you preaching against me? Yeah, I was. I mean, if you think I was, then I was. Because if you're taking it that way, then obviously it's not me preaching against you, it's God's Spirit preaching against you because it's hitting you like a dagger in the heart. When you get that feeling and the blood runs out of your face, that's God just nailing you to the wall over something you're not doing right. Look, I've felt that feeling. I know what it's like. When I hear my friends preach and they hit me between the eyes and they're not trying to, it's not a fun feeling. But don't blame the man of God for doing that. Just take it in, internalize it, and change whatever you need to change. But it's called being admonished, and it means to warn or notify of a fault, to reprove with mildness. It could be to reprove with mildness, to counsel against wrong practices, to caution or advise, to instruct or direct, and in ecclesiastical affairs to reprove a member of the church for a fault. Reprove means to correct, right? To tell them they're wrong, either publicly or privately. It could be the first step of church discipline. It's followed by, of, or against, as to admonish of a fault committed or against committing a fault. That's a long way of saying to tell somebody that they're wrong about something, or to correct something that they're not doing right. It could just be to advise them, hey, this might not be the best path to take from here. But I don't like to just give people advice, just, hey, this is how you should run your life. I'm going to do that from the pulpit, and if people come to me for counsel, I'll give them my opinion based upon what I believe the Bible says. So I'm not going to just say, well, I think you should pick the green car because green is my favorite color or something. That has nothing to do with it. But we should know then that labor among you are over you in the Lord and admonish you. So the leader has to admonish the people in the church sometimes, and that's not always the most comfortable feeling. But you should still esteem them very highly and in love for their work's sake. Now what does that word esteem mean? It means to respect or admire. So it means to respect and admire. There's nothing wrong with respecting or admiring somebody that's in leadership. There's nothing wrong with that. In fact, the Bible says to esteem them. That's what it means. Now, esteem does not mean idolize. There is a difference because people will say, well, you worship this pastor. Or a lot of people say, we worship Pastor Anderson. I kind of mentioned that last week. You just worship them. That's why somebody from the announcement said, welcome to Faithful Word Baptist Church. But what does idolize mean? It means to love, to excess, to love or reverence to adoration, as to idolize gold or wealth, to idolize children, to idolize a virtuous magistrate like Donald Trump or a hero. So esteem is fine to respect and admire somebody for the works that they do is fine. The Bible actually says to do that. But to idolize someone and think that they're the best thing ever and that they're never going to fall or they're never going to have a fault or they're never going to sin, that's insane. Because you know what? We're human beings too as leaders. We make mistakes. And guess what? We sin. We actually do sin. And you're like, I know you do, Pastor Thompson. Like, okay, well, I'm glad you understand that because I don't ever get up here and say, I'm sinless. I've never said that. I've never acted like I was better than anybody else. In fact, I think I've said that multiple times. I'm not sinless. But a lot of pastors, and I've gone to churches where pastors act like their marriage is perfect. They're perfect. They're the best pastor that ever lived. And they would never do these particular sins or whatever. I mean, I've gone to churches where people said, well, if that person still smokes, so they must not be saved. It's like, what are you talking about? Well, nobody says hello to the visitors that come into the church. I'll hang out with a person that smokes cigarettes in front of me and blows their smoke on me over somebody that's blowing smoke in God's face by being some holier than thou spiritual snob to people that walk into church and think that they're better than everybody else. But I'm just saying this. We cannot put any man or woman on a pedestal because you know what's going to happen? If that person ever falls, if that person makes a mistake, then it's going to crash your little world. Your little crystal world. You know those little crystal animals that people collect? You know what I'm talking about? They put them in their hutches and stuff. Your little crystal is going to smash into a million pieces because you put it up so high in your mind and so high in your heart that you think that they never make a mistake. And when they do, then it just crashes everything. And it really means that your faith is on sinking sand. It's not upon the rock when it should be upon the rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I know the rock, the wrestler, just claimed the name, the trademark from the WWE, but there is a rock that actually still has that name and he's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the trademark, actually. That's the one that, you know, I'm not saying we should idolize him, but he's our God. I mean, I guess so. If we bow down and worship him, is that wrong? No, but if you take a man and you put him on a pedestal, you're setting yourself up for a spiritual crash and failure. And is it true sometimes that I've seen people worship Pastor Anderson? Yeah, I've seen people do that. I've seen people flatter him to his face. I was with him one time and we were just kind of, I'm not going to say where it was or who it was, but we were just sitting there all talking and somebody walked up to him and he was talking about how flattery is just so weird and bad and, you know, he was just talking about and then literally this person walks up and starts flattering him hard to his face and I had like second and third hand embarrassment because this person was flattering him so hard and like it was in front of their spouse and I just, I felt embarrassment for their spouse too because like they're just standing there listening to this person, you're the smartest person I've ever met and you're the funniest guy I've ever met and it's just like, he just got, I mean he said it in front of them and I'm just like, do you not hear yourself? And look, it's not his fault. It's not his fault that people get weird like that. Do you think he likes that? I don't think he likes that. I think people, I think he thinks it's just as weird as we think it is. I think he thinks it's just as weird as other people thinks it is. But it's not his fault. He's not asking people to do that. But see, that's where people have, they've crossed the line from esteem, respect, and admire to idolize and look, that's why people will say the new IFB is a cult because they'll say well you just worship these pastors and some people do but they're the weird ones. I watched, I saw, I don't, I can't remember what I saw, where I saw it but I just saw this comment where someone says all the normal people left the new IFB and now all the weird ones are left and I'm like, that's not what I see. I was here when all the weird ones were here and now all the weird ones are gone in my opinion and the normal ones are left and like that's why you don't see all the flying monkeys all over the comments and all this other stuff because the normal people are here and all the weird ones are the flying monkeys now and if you don't know what I mean by flying monkeys, they're the ones that attack the comments and they're trolls or whatever. Anyway, but great leaders are just men and should not be put on a pedestal in any case like that. Jack Hiles was put on a pedestal by many people like that and Jack Hiles, I think he's a great man of God. I mean, but he, did he, did he make mistakes? I'm sure he did but I heard this story from a pastor of a church I went to. There's a church called Riverview Baptist Church in Pasco, Washington. I know that brother Eli used to go there. I've gone there before. It's a huge church. It has like 20 something buses, all white. It's got like a Korean ministry, a Spanish ministry. I think it's bigger than actually the English ministry that's there. It's a huge Baptist church and the old pastor there, his name was Dallas Dobson and he broke down on his way somewhere and he just said, I'm just going to start a church here. He started it in Pasco, Washington. It's the biggest Baptist church that I've been to in the West. So, but when Jack Hiles was really popular, he came, he came to that church and people used to like cheer for him. Like he would Jack Hiles, when he'd come, they'd cheer for him. Like, you know, they're at a football game or something because at that time, you know, people, when people cheered for these football teams, they thought, well, why wouldn't you cheer for a man of God like that? I mean, it's kind of a little different, you know? I mean, I personally wouldn't do that, but you know, they're just like cheering for him and Dallas Dobson's like, he's just a man. He's just, he's just a man, you know, because people were worshiping him and maybe they were just excited to see him. I mean, I'm sure not everybody that was worshiping him. I'm just saying that you can't put people up too high. You can't set up men as idols because men will fail you. They will. Now, Psalm chapter 146 verse three, go ahead and turn to Proverbs chapter 24 verse 16 and I'm going to read for you Psalm chapter 146 verse three. Psalm 146 verse three says, put not your trust in princes nor in the son of man in whom there is no help. And what God's saying there is just like, don't put your trust in the wrong people. If you're putting your trust in man, they're going to fail you every time. So it's good to esteem. It's good to respect leaders, but don't worship them. And when you have the right perspective about men that God puts in leadership as fallible men capable of making huge errors, then you have the right perspective. Proverbs 24 verse 16 says, for a just man follows seven times and riseth up again. Except for leaders, they never make mistakes. Is that what it says? No. Any just man or any just woman is going to have times where they fall and when they fail. But they will get up and they'll do right again. David, he has that one black mark on his record where God talks very highly of him and says that he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all of his life, except for what? In the matter of what? Uriah the Hittite. Why does it say that? Well, because he had a great fall. But do you think that David just, you know, he's a piece of crap now because he made that big mistake? I mean, it's a pretty bad mistake. He'd be reprobated in our movement. Seriously. He's not qualified to be the king anymore, even though God said he was still okay. It's like, he's still a man after God's own heart, but not in the eyes of the people. That's because, you know, people understood that David was a sinner and God forgave him. That's the important thing is that God forgave him. But, you know, God also punished him for the things that he did. Paul, he said, O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of death. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with my mind, I serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. He said, I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present in me. He said, for the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. So listen, that's the apostle Paul saying that. He made mistakes. He made a lot, I mean, to me, it sounds like he struggles with sin, just like every other red-blooded man in the world. But if you hit Paul on a pedestal and say that he never made mistakes, that's crazy. The Bible never teaches that. So that's why it's just so dangerous to put men on a pedestal and act like they're something that they're not. You cannot idolize and put men on because when they fail you, that's when everything comes crashing down and our faith should be built on the Lord Jesus Christ and him only should we serve. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 12, wherefore let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall. We all have the capability of falling, don't we? That's why the Bible says that if we think we're standing, take heed lest we fall. That means if we start getting too high and mighty, that's when you come crashing down. The pride comes before the fall. So we don't want to get prideful to the fact that we start thinking we're better than other people and we don't want to think that other people are so high that they can't fall either. So we have to have a right balance when it comes to leadership. And it's great to have good leaders, but don't go past what God wants us to think about them. Number two, and this is only my other point, which is only two points, but sometimes civil disobedience becomes necessary. Verse three, at the same time came to them Tatni governor on this side of the river, sorry, back in Ezra 5-3, and Shethar-Bosni and their companions and said thus unto them, who hath commanded you to build this house and to make up this wall? Then said we unto them after this manner, what are the names of the men that make this building? And so basically, remember, they were already shut them down in the last chapter and said they can't build anymore. But now they're building it again. And who gained permission to do that? That's what this guy's asking. He's like, what are the names of the men that are making this building? Like, I'm Karen, can I talk to the manager, please? I need to know who you guys are. I want to know who's building this building. And verse five, it says, but the eyes of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease. So remember, before last chapter, they caused them to stop by force. But then they just apparently just started doing it again anyway. But God was upon them. God's eye was for them. And it says, till the matter came to Darius. And then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter. So they don't answer. They don't give their names who they are. They're just like, go away, Karen. And so they basically, so now this Tat and I, he sends a letter to Darius. And again, letters are a common thing where God's enemies will try to do damage and stop God's people from doing stuff. We saw that in the last chapter. I mean, you think about the letter that was given to Hezekiah, and he poured his heart out to the Lord. He spread out the letter to the Lord in the temple and prayed about it. And there's just multiple times in the Bible. But I mean, this kind of stuff happens on a weekly basis to me. Every week, I get letters to stop the work. Every week. I'm going to read you one. I'm going to read you one from last week. Do you know who these gangsters are right here? Do you know who these guys are? I got a letter about these guys last week, Brother Sean and Brother Bill. I was with them actually, but I was with Brother Jesse on a different spot. And we were mistaken for a different church, but here's how the letter goes. Hello, friends. Please see the email below that we sent to another church trying to find out who is knocking doors in Fairway Village. It'd be greatly appreciated if you could please not do this, given the heightened concern we all have right now about crime happening on our properties. Sorry, I missed the page, I think. Nope. Got it. Okay. Being cased, etc. You can advertise in our excellent newsletter. If you're interested, please let me know, and I can get you in touch with the details for that. Thank you very much, and God bless. Diane. I'm not going to give her last name. And so this is the original letter they sent to another church thinking that it was us. It says, I'm a resident in Fairway Village of 55 plus community and golf course not too far from your church. I'm running to ask if your congregation is door knocking to let people know about your church. And if so, to let you know that we are having a very difficult time in our community and whomever is door knocking is unknowingly causing a lot of concern and alarm. We have a significant increase in burglaries, car break-ins, and cars, people casing houses. The mode tends to be knocking on the door to see if anyone is home, and if no one answers, going around back and breaking in. The whole community's in an uproar about this, and our HOA and everyone is on super high alert, for example. A resident just posted his photo below in our community's private Facebook group alerting people to be on the lookout for these guys. Several neighbors have politely confronted door knockers and they've claimed to be a Baptist church. Is it yours? And then they show the pictures of our church members. It's perhaps a sad sign of the times, but door knocking will not be met with a welcome in our community due to our sense of vulnerability based on this increase in crime. Fortunately, we're all closing it and we watch out for each other like hawks. As I mentioned, everyone's on high alert and the police are doing extra drive-throughs. So if your congregation is door knocking here, may request that they stop, especially when there is no soliciting signs, which there always is, and instead consider advertising our community newsletter, which goes out to all residents. That seems like, I mean, I understand. I understand where they're coming from, but it says here's the latest door knocker or the photo of the door knockers, which the resident shared in our group. Are these your guys? So I just responded because so she forwarded me the messages she sent because the other person responded said this isn't us. Now it seems innocent and I understand. I'll just read you what I said. I'm sorry you're having to deal with criminals. We clearly are not, as we announce ourself at Shure Foundation Baptist Church. Our people dress in shirts and ties and the ladies in skirts and dresses. We carry Bibles in our hand. As Bible believing Christians, it is our mandate by the Lord Jesus Christ himself to preach the gospel to everyone that wants to hear. The way we accomplish that is by systematically knocking every door in the city. Unfortunately, we cannot abide by your request because each individual resident has the right to receive the message or not. One person cannot make that decision for everyone, just like we as Christians have the freedom of speech and to practice our religion. Soliciting is selling things. We are not selling anything or pandering for money from anyone. Therefore, we do not observe no soliciting signs. The Supreme Court actually ruled on the issue of door-to-door free exercise to spread the good news. More importantly, we have a mandate from God himself. It is better to obey God than man. I hope you understand and we assure you that we mean no harm. God bless you, Sincerely, Pastor Aaron Thompson. So I mean, I thought it was nice, but I'm also not going to stop door-to-door. Because what if everybody sent this letter to me in any community, in any apartment complex? And look, this is actually a pretty nice one compared to, I mean, I could have brought in pages of different letters that are way worse than this one. But this is just one from last week. So I want to be, you know, give you the most current one. And then this is how she responded, though. Hi, Pastor Thompson. I assure you that none of us are trying to stop your evangelizing. But isn't that what she was trying to do, though? Anyway, we're just asking you to do so in a way that isn't adding to the community's already high level of concern. The fact that you don't think that we should be concerned doesn't negate the fact that we are. Did I say that? I mean, I don't remember saying that. Your knocking caused enough concern for at least one resident to alert the community and post photos, etc. I also had a man and a woman come to our home, which I didn't like at all. So she has a problem. I wasn't home but caught it on camera. My neighbors gently confronted them. So they got confronted, whoever this was. And they said that they were from a Baptist church and asked if she lived there, which she didn't like. So really, I mean, she's kind of revealing her heart here. She doesn't like it. This person doesn't like it. At least one other person doesn't like it. And so there's just a handful of people. They just don't like us knocking on their door. But this is just the way it is. This is what God told us to do, and I'm not going to stop the work because somebody doesn't like the way that God said to do it. She said, so please consider the way, she said, the way in all caps you were trying to reach people here might not be the best way. But that's the way God said to do it. So how is it not the best way? It is the best way. That's why God said to do it that way. At this moment in time, even if you're not selling anything, you're trying to deliver the good news to those that want to hear it, and I support that 100%. No, she doesn't. I think folks here would be more open to hearing it if you didn't start by triggering their fear. Hi, would you like to come to church? My next door neighbor caught a young clean cut guy wearing clean khakis and a blue button down with a clipboard trying to sneak through her house through a pet door. And when she confronted him, he claimed he was just trying to check the water meter. She said, no, you're not. And then he ran at full speed to a car waiting for him on the street, and they took off. So to think it is ridiculous that your guys would be confused for intruders or someone casing the houses for later break-ins, well, it's not ridiculous to us. Did I ever say it was ridiculous? And if we're letting you know, all caps, bolded, that we're uncomfortable with strangers coming up to our doorways, then why would that not matter to you? I didn't say it didn't matter. I just said, we're not going to stop doing it. So please just give it some more thought, okay? We're not trying to stop your message. Yeah, you are. We're just asking for an approach that doesn't scare us. Our newsletter goes to every single resident in the houses and condos, and everyone reads it. Sure they do. And add, there would be a great invitation for people to make contact or maybe start with an ad with your photo and say you'll be knocking on specific days so people will have an opportunity to recognize you. Even that would help. It may sound crazy that people are so concerned, but consider that we have a lot of elderly widows and widowers who feel vulnerable. All the best. This is public enemy number one. Brother Sean, you are known as a community disturber of the peace. But my point is, so this guy is about to write this letter to the king because he wants the work to stop. But this is, like I said, this is not something that doesn't still happen today. It still happens today. And some letters are worse than others. And some letters are not just about sowing. Some letters are, you know, I'm suing you for saying something about me in a sermon. You know, stuff like that. I mean, it just depends. But they're just trying to get them to stop building this temple because what is the end game is to be able to serve the Lord like they're supposed to do. And they're trying to stop this from happening because they're the enemies of God. Now this lady, maybe she just ignorantly doesn't know that this is what she's trying to do. But again, if I just listen to every request, we would never go to any apartment complex ever in Vancouver again because I get calls and I get threatened. I've already told my lawyers. And you know what? I'm really nice when I call them back or I write them back, except for when they threaten me. And they say, well, our lawyers are going to, you're going to hear from our lawyers. And we called the police and we were just at one a couple of weeks ago. I think Brother Ramon and some other guys were there, Brother Sean. And they're following us around with walkie talkies and having guys drive around in cars. And the police are just going to come any minute and just take us away in the paddy wagon because we're knocking on people's doors and asking them if they want to go to church. It's like, there's all these criminals stripping wire, shoplifting, shooting drugs in the streets, shooting people. It's like we're dressed up in shirts and ties and families going out together trying to get people to come to church and get saved. Criminals! This is the scum of Vancouver right here. Write a letter. Anyway, I'm sorry. So, let's get back to the letter, the letter in the Bible here. So, Ezra chapter five. Okay, I've got to hurry here. Verse five, it says, okay, actually, let's look at verse six. So, this is a letter that Tatnia sent to Darius, right? The copy of the letter that Tatni, governor of the side of the river, and Sheth R. Bosni and his companions Afar, the Afar Sakites, which were on the side of the river, sent unto Darius the king. They sent a letter unto him wherein was written thus unto Darius the king all peace. Be it known unto the king that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is builded with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls, and the work goeth fast on and prospereth in their hands. Then asked we those elders, and said unto them, Thus, who commanded you to build this house, and to make up these walls? We asked their names also, to certify thee that we might write the names of the men that were the chief among them. And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and build the house that was builded these many years ago, which a great king of Israel builded and set up. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath. He gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar and the king of Babylon the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried the people away into Babylon." So he's like basically giving them verbatim what their history was. But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon, the same king made a decree to build the house of God. So basically he's just reverbing what they said to him. And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that was in Jerusalem, and brought them into the temple of Babylon. Those did Cyrus the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto one whose name was Sheshbezar, whom he had made governor. And so that's the guy that I think is actually observable. But anyway, it says, And said unto him, Take these vessels, go carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be builded in his place. Then came the same Sheshbezar, and laid the foundation of the house of God, which is in Jerusalem. And since that time, even until now, hath it been in building, and yet it is not finished. So that's actually not true. Remember they did stop them from building for a while. Last chapter we saw that. Then therefore, if it seemed good to the king, let there be search made in the king's treasure house, which is there at Babylon. Whether it be so, that a decree was made of Cyrus the king to build his house, the house of God, at Jerusalem, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter. So they basically just kind of shoot themselves in the foot here because they're asking whether the things that the Jews are telling them is true. And so they're really just sealing their own doom because what they don't realize here is that if it is true, then they're going to be able to continue to build the temple. Because what they probably aren't realizing here is that there's a certain rule with the Medes and the Persians that once the king makes a law, that it can't change. And we know this because of the book of Daniel. Chapter number six. Go ahead and turn over there. So we know that this is a fact because in the first chapter, and we saw in the book of Isaiah where God proclaimed that this Cyrus 150 years earlier would have this guy named, God would have Cyrus make this decree, and that he would have this done, and God is the one that's behind. So God and Cyrus are behind this building. Look at Daniel 6-7. It says, all the presidents of the kingdom, the governors and the princes and counselors and the captains have consulted together to establish the royal statute and to make a firm decree that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for 30 days save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. This is the famous story of Daniel in the lion's den. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians which alterth not. So who's ruling in this time during Zerubbabel's time and this time that we're talking about right now? It's the same rulers, right? So when the king makes a decree, it's unable to be changed. Isn't that what it says right there? Wherefore King Darius signed the writing and the decree. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into the house and the windows being opened to the chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did a four times. So Daniel here is civilly disobeying the king's commandment, isn't he? He's civilly disobeying the law right here. So there is a time when we are allowed to civilly disobey and that's when we're told to break God's commandments. So we are allowed to pray and no king or government can make a rule that we can't do that. Now, Daniel chose to do what he always was doing. It's not like he's like, oh, the king's going to make a law. Now I'm going to start praying. No, he already did that before. So I'm trying to show you two points at the same time. One thing is that the rule can't change once the king makes that rule. And the other thing is that what are these guys doing with the temple? They were told to stop building last chapter, weren't they? So why are they building this chapter? Well, because Cyrus already told them they could. That was a decree sent forth from Cyrus that's an unchanging rule. And God told Cyrus to tell them to do that. And so God also told them through Haggai the prophet and through Zechariah the prophet to build, you know, why are you in sealed houses and the temple is left unfinished? Build me this house. You know, so he tells them to build this house so they have a mandate from God. So they just keep building it and they don't care what this guy is saying. They don't care what the other king, they don't care what King Darius is about to say either. But they're doing it because they're civilly disobeying because they already were told what they were allowed to do. They're not supposed to change this rule. So anyway, it says, then the men assembled and found Daniel praying, making supplication before his God. Then they came near and spake before the king concerning the king's decree. Hast thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any god or man within 30 days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast in the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Then answered they and said before the king that Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou has signed, but maketh his petition three times a day. Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him. So he is even trying to change his own rule, even though he's not supposed to. Then these men assembled unto the king and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, that no decree nor statute which the king establishth may be changed. Then the king commanded that they brought Daniel and cast him to the lion's den. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God, whom thou serviced continually, he will deliver thee. So again, even all this aside, we are to obey the government, unless it goes against the higher power, right? Whether it's the law, the king, the home, or more importantly, God. So there is a time for God's people to civilly disobey, and it's not to be taken lightly. But in this case, it's so funny, because like, they're literally civilly disobeying, and then they're pleading to Darius. And Darius, you know, this Darius in Daniel is, he's caught in this situation. So like, when he has to make this ruling over it, how do you think he's going to rule? When he sees that Cyrus did indeed do that. You can't change what's been already put into place. And we know this from, I'm not going to go into the whole story, but Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, what happened with them? Well, they were supposed to, when they heard the music, all the different types, the flutes, and the cornets, and all that other stuff, and they were supposed to bow down and worship the idol that was set up, right? And so Nebuchadnezzar is like, they got brought to Nebuchadnezzar, and he's like, hey, you know, when you're supposed to bow down, you need to go down. And then they said, I'm just going to read it for you, it says, if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. And then, needless to say, Nebuchadnezzar throws it into the fire. He makes it seven times hotter than it ought to be. The guy that actually pushed him in the fire died because it was so hot, and God did protect them. You know, maybe God doesn't always protect every single person in that instance, and people have died for their faith before. But the point is, is that they weren't, these guys were leaders. Everybody else probably bowed down to that idol, and maybe some of them didn't want to, but did anyway, but there is a time to stand up, and everybody else might be bowing down, everybody else might be saying, oh no, we got to listen to the government, we got to do everything they say, and lick their boots and everything, but there is a time to say no. And in this chapter tonight, they said no, and God was for them, and God's going to deliver them, and they didn't even, you know, the Karens that came to them, and they're like, they didn't even tell them their name. So they're writing a letter, and then they doom themselves in the letter that they write by saying, well, this is exactly what happened, this is what they say happened, and it is exactly the truth. And so how do you think the letters are going to get answered? Well, next week we'll find out. But it's just, it's funny, the government they're under, they literally have a law that the law can't be changed that the king makes. So God just kind of works it out really well. And in Acts chapter five, we'll finish here. Go ahead and turn to Acts chapter five, and we'll end here. So once Jesus was crucified and the apostles were out preaching the gospel, they get captured, some of the apostles get captured, and they're beaten, and they, you know, they're excited about the fact that they were counted worthy to be persecuted for what they were preaching, but they told them, don't go preach, don't preach this anymore. And people, you know what, people are going to do this kind of stuff to us all the time. They tell us what we can and can't preach. They try to tell us what we're preaching is hateful, or they, you know, don't preach the gospel in here, don't come here, don't preach there, don't tell us this, don't, you can't say that, you know what, I'll say whatever the Bible says. And when it comes to preaching the gospel, that's when we never should compromise, ever. Acts 5 27, it says, and when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and tend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than man. And so that should be our attitude too. If someone ever tries to stop us from preaching, if anybody ever tries to shut us down for anything, and it's something that God told us to do, we're not doing it out of spite, but we're doing it because God told us to do, that should be our answer every single time. Hey, we ought to obey God rather than what man says, because that is what's right. And you know what, God's going to back us up 110% every single time. He's always going to make a way for us to escape out of it. But you know the people that fooled, and the people that would apologize over this, you know, Captain Milk Toast preacher, I'm so sorry. You know, we used to have this, Pastor Jones, I'm going to tell you a story real quick before we go. Pastor Jones, he used to have this app that we would prank people with. It was called PrankDollar.com, and it was this one. It was called You Hit My Car, and it kind of answers, like whatever you say, it like starts to answer the next answer. And so it was like, you hit my car, and it's like, and then the person says, you know, no I didn't. Who is this? And it's like, yes you did. You know, so like it answers. But this one was about, pretend to be a Jewish person, upset because someone put up Christmas lights next door, and I sent it to a pastor, a church planting pastor. This is before I started the church, so just, see men aren't always perfect. But anyway, I wish I still had the recording, but it was so funny, because he's just falling down apologizing to this Jewish guy that's offended that this pastor put up the Christmas lights. He's like, well I'm really sorry. You know, I'll take him down. I mean, I won't, you know, and it's just like, dude, come on man. You're upset because a Jew guy was, you know, it wasn't even real, but I mean, look sometimes Christians are just too wishy-washy. There is a time when we got to take a stand, and we got to civilly disobey, and sometimes we got to stand up to people that want to be, even if they're just being nice bullies, they're still trying to tell us what to do when God told us that we need to go to every house and knock the doors. All right, let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for the scriptures, and we thank you for godly leaders that we have in our lives, Lord, and I pray that you would just help us to remember to pray for them, and help us to position them where they belong, Lord, not on a pedestal, but with esteem and respect, and Lord, that we wouldn't think too highly of anybody besides you, Lord, and that we would only worship and obey you, and I pray that you'd help us to know when the right time to stand up for things is, and that we would do it and not be afraid, and we thank you for this gathering of believers tonight, for everybody that came out to hear the word of God. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, we're going to sing a song, and we're going to...