Jason Dohm's sermon, 'Holy to the Lord,' based on Ezra 8:24-30, explores the theme of holiness in the context of Ezra leading a group of Israelites back to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity. Ezra entrusts specific leaders and priests with valuable offerings of silver and gold, declaring them 'holy to the Lord.' The sermon emphasizes that holiness originates from God and highlights its importance, as seen in the biblical repetition of 'holy, holy, holy.' Ezra's careful stewardship of these holy articles reflects the larger biblical principle that God entrusts His people with resources for His glory, not personal gain. The sermon draws parallels between the Old Testament concept of holiness and New Testament teachings, particularly in relation to being a 'holy priesthood' through Christ. Dohm challenges listeners to consider their own stewardship of both material resources and the gospel. He underscores the idea that prayer does not replace responsible stewardship, and calls for believers to live as a holy people, separated for God's service.

Our sermon text this morning is Ezra chapter 8 verses 24 through 30. And I separated twelve of the leaders of the priest, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them, and weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God, which the king and his counselors and his princes and all Israel who were present had offered. I weighed into their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver silver articles weighing 100 talents and 100 talents of gold 20 gold basins worth a thousand drachmas and two vessels of fine polished bronze precious as gold and I said to them you are holy to the Lord the articles are holy also and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers. Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests and the Levites and the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel and Jerusalem in the chambers of the house of the Lord so the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the articles by weight to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God." The title of the message this morning is, Holy to the Lord.

It's a phrase that comes right out of the text in verse 28. I think verse 28 is really the summary of the whole text. It's where Ezra says that the men who have been set apart for this particular service are holy to the Lord, and so are the articles that are listed in the text. We're now in the second wave of captives who have been set at liberty to return from Babylon, from captivity to Jerusalem. The second wave began in chapter 7.

In chapter 7 we had an introduction to Ezra the person. We have his genealogy, his family tree, where it's demonstrated that Ezra is a priest, and not just a priest, that he is right out of a line of high priests. Some of the most prominent high priests in Israel's history were his ancestors. We are introduced to Ezra in that he had prepared his heart to seek the Lord and to do it and to teach it. So this is a very godly man and a man fit to lead this second wave of captives back to Jerusalem.

We also have in Ezra chapter 7 the letter from King Artaxerxes. The king of the whole Persian Empire has given Ezra an official document and chapter 7 says that Artaxerxes granted him all his requests. So in this letter, all the requests that Ezra had made to him have been granted by the king. Now in chapter 8, we see who's coming back in the second wave. It's 1, 500 men.

So we get some genealogical information about these 1, 500 men. It proves that they're Israelites coming back out of captivity. God's keeping His promise not to leave them captive forever, but he's bringing back a remnant. So it's, I think, 1, 496 men to be very precise. So maybe 6, 000 to 8, 000 people total by the time you add in wives and children.

It's probably 6, 000 to 8, 000 people who are coming back in this second wave. Three weeks ago we had Jim's text. So they've gathered to return to Jerusalem. They've gathered probably on the outskirts of Babylon to begin this 900 mile track to Jerusalem. In the three days that they're gathering and preparing to leave, Ezra notices something.

He notices that there aren't any Levites and that's a problem because Levites are going to be essential for the mission that God has given this second wave of captives. And the big takeaway from that text is that we see that Ezra is a man who cares about the things God cares about. So this is the kind of man he is. He has prepared his heart to seek the Lord and to do the law and to teach the law. The things that matter to God matter to Ezra.

So the big challenge from that text is what about you? The godly love what God loves and they hate what God hates. The godly, if it matters to God, by definition it matters to them. There are no things that matter to God that don't matter to the godly. So as we become more godly, as we become more conformed to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ's precious image that we see in the Gospels.

The things that matter to our God will matter more and more to us. Then two weeks ago, in James' text, Ezra leads the people to turn to God first and most. That was really the summary and the highlight of the text. Ezra leads the people to fast and to pray. It is about the dangers and the potential challenges of the journey, but it is more about turning to God first, turning to God most.

Ezra is a man who leads the people in this. He leads the people in God-wardness. So the challenge of that text is likewise. What about us? Do we turn to God first or as an afterthought?

Do we turn to God most or is our mind elsewhere? The godly turn to God first. The godly turn to God most. And As a side note, I was so thankful to listen to those two sermons this week, and just to find the texts honored. That's the highest compliment for preachers, is that when you get to the end of the sermon, you say, that text was honored by the preacher.

And I'm thankful. I could leave for a year now. I'm not planning to leave for a year. I don't want to leave for a year, but I could leave for a year because we have men here who can stand in the pulpit and honor the text and that's a blessing. I thank God for that.

As we go to this week's text, let's go in prayer. Father God, I thank you for another text. We know that we'll be blessed because these are your words that you've given as a gift to your people. Thank you, O God, for your word. Help us to love your words.

God I pray that in this text you would help us to see your holiness. You are a holy God, so your people are holy people. I pray that you would help us to be partakers of your holiness more than we ever have been. Oh God, may we love your holiness. May we understand your holiness and make us partakers of it through Christ and through your work to teach us, to bring us along.

We thank you for the work of your Spirit. May it be so present today. May the work of your Spirit be so present today. May He be unrestrained among us to do your good pleasure. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

So I want to speak about three things in the rest of the sermon and then try to apply. So the first thing will be to talk about the holy men. And then I want to talk about the holy articles. There's a listing of things that are coming back with the people. And Ezra calls them holy things.

And then finally I want to talk about the charge. Ezra charges the holy men who have the holy articles to do certain things, to watch and to keep. Then we'll try to apply. First the holy men. Ezra says that there are men, particular men, separated out from the rest to serve the Lord in a particular way.

So you group come aside for this purpose. You are going to serve the Lord in this way. You are going to be holy to the Lord. Verse 28 says exactly that. Ezra says, You are holy to the Lord, the articles are holy also.

So Ezra picks out very specific men from among the congregation and He says, you're holy to the Lord, and the articles are holy also. So what this text is about is holy men being entrusted with the holy treasures listed in the text. Holy men entrusted with holy treasures. Verse 24 reads as if there are twelve men. Two by name, Sherebiah and Hashubiah, and then it just says 10 of their brethren.

So we don't get all 12 names here in verse 24. We get two names and then the rest are mentioned as a group. All the translations render it this way. Name, name, 10. Meaning 12.

So all the translators that we trust render it that way. Virtually all of the commentators that we trust, old and new, plead for an alternate translation. I'm going to give the Expositors Bible Commentaries plea for an alternate translation, but I want you to know it's representative of an overwhelming number of the commentators, both the old dead guys and the new commentators as well. So here's how the Expositors Bible commentary desires to render this. The verse can be rendered, I set apart twelve of the leading priests besides Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers.

So Matthew Henry does it this way, I believe Matthew Poole also. These are the commentators from hundreds of years ago. We love them. I quote them every week. They see it through that lens of translation as well.

So the natural reading of our translation would tell you that it's twelve men, Hashubiah, Sherebiah, and their ten brothers. But The commentators are asking us to instead see it as the twelve leading priests besides Shirobaya, Hashubiah, and ten of their brothers. I like it. I'm buying what the commentators are selling here. And it fits the context both before and after our text in this way.

If you look back at verses 18 and 19, So our text today starts in verse 24. Just back up a couple of verses to verses 18 and 19. You see that Sherebiah and Hashubiah have already been named. They've already been spoken of in the text. And they're named as Levites, not priests.

And there's a distinction in the text, right? The beginning of the chapter says who is coming and it mentions priests. It mentions two priestly families of people who are coming back. So then they gather and they find out what? There are no Levites.

Now, priests are Levites, but they mean none of the rest of the tribe that were given to the priests as a gift by God to help them with all the service. So the priests is a family in the tribe of Levi and the rest of the tribe has been given to this family to help them in the service that God has given them to do. So when they find, even though they have priests, that there are no Levites, none from the families of the rest of the tribe, they send as Rasen's men to bring back Levites. Hashabiah and Cherubiah are two that were identified as Levites. If we look down beyond our text in verse 30, we see, so the priests and Levites received the silver and gold.

It makes perfect sense that there would be leaders of priests and leaders of Levites who head up getting the precious cargo from the land of captivity to Jerusalem. I believe that's a good way to understand that. This is completely consistent with the law. If we were to go take the time to look at Numbers chapter 3 and Numbers chapter 4 carefully, what we would find is that the holy things are handled by the priests and they're transported by the Levites. Both things are in view in this text.

Numbers 3 and 4 says, the priests handle the holy things and the Levites transport, they carry the holy things. Now let's talk about holiness. Ezra says, you men, this body, whether it's 12 or 24, I think it's 24, but whatever, you men, this specific group is holy to the Lord. What does that mean? Where does holiness come from?

You have to understand this. It comes from God. Holiness is derived from God. Holiness originates, always and only originates with God. You are holy to the Lord.

That's the holiness that the Bible always has in mind. Holiness just means separate, set apart for a certain purpose. So a society could set aside people to collect the trash. So you are holy to the trash. That's never what the Bible has in mind.

Not the general use of the word, but the specific use of the word. It's actually spelled out in this text. Holy to the Lord. That's what you're set aside from. That's what you're connected to if you're holy.

And that's why you're holy. The thing you're connected to is what makes you holy. You're holy to the Lord. So your holiness is originating from God. Now consider this.

Repetition in the Bible is always significant, never wasted. Not one word of scripture is a throwaway word or a throwaway phrase or just added in for flourish. Scripture never does that. When there's repetition in Scripture, it always means something. It indicates the importance of something.

Now listen to this. I'm going to go fast enough that you won't be able to get there, so just listen. This is Isaiah chapter 6. This is the chapter in which Isaiah is brought into the presence of God, and he's undone in the presence of God. The chapter begins this way.

Isaiah chapter 6 verses 1 through 3, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. And the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it stood Seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, And with two he flew.

And one cried to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is filled with His glory. Not holy is the Lord, but holy, holy, holy is the Lord. In Revelation chapter 4 beginning in verse 6, Here's what we see. This is Revelation chapter 4 beginning in 6.

It's a description of the throne, the throne and what is happening around the throne. Before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal. And In the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures each having six wings were full of eyes around and within and they do not rest day or night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come." Between Isaiah, which was written 70 years before the first wave came back from captivity, to the time of John the apostle who was called up to see these marvelous visions of Revelation, nothing has changed.

What Isaiah saw and recorded in Isaiah chapter 6 is what John saw on the island of Patmos recorded in Revelation these strange beasts with six wings and they are saying in Isaiah what they are saying, what they will be saying at the end of time. Night and day they cry out, holy, holy, holy. Now Why does this matter? Why does this matter? Because God is perfect in every category.

God has no lack in any attribute, in any part of his character. And yet, looking from cover to cover, you'll never see God described as love, love, love, never, from Genesis through Revelation, or truth, truth, truth, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or justice, justice, justice. Even though he's perfect in love, and he's perfect in truth, and he's perfect in mercy, and he's perfect in justice, you never see that repetition. Only holy, holy, Holy, holiness is God's master quality. It's his master attribute.

It's his quality of qualities. It's his attribute of attributes. It means that he is separate. It means that there is none like him. So he is wholly in love, meaning no one is like him in love.

No one loves like him. He is wholly in truth. No one is like him in truth. He is holy in mercy. No one is merciful like he is merciful.

He is holy in justice. No one is just like he is just. And this has an implication for those who would serve him. Those called into the service of this holy God must be cleansed and must be partakers of His holiness because He's not like us. There's none like Him in any way, in any of His attributes.

So if you are going to be in His service, you have to be set apart to be like him. You just can't come defiled. You just can't come as you are to serve this holy God. So if you go to Exodus chapter 29 and Exodus chapter 30, you're going to find these elaborate rituals, elaborate multi-step rituals to cleanse the men who would serve this holy God and to even cleanse the inanimate objects, the articles for the service of this holy God. There's going to have to be sacrifice after sacrifice, and the shedding of blood to make these men who would serve this holy God cleansed and purified, to make even the inanimate objects pure enough to serve this God who is not like anyone else or anything else.

When the sacrifices are done, then the washings begin. The death of animals and then the cleansing. Water, water over these men, water over these objects that will be used to serve this holy God. Why? To make them some elevated thing?

No, because they are serving something elevated. Because God is holy. So those who come into their service can't just be like they are. They have to be cleansed and made ready to serve this God because He is so magnificent and we cannot bring our defilements to serve Him. This is why Peter says in 1 Peter 1 verse 16, Peter says, because it is written, be holy for I am holy.

That's why, because God is holy. That's why His servants must be holy. Peter says it is written. He's quoting Leviticus chapter 11 and Leviticus chapter 19 and Leviticus chapter 20, multiple places in those chapters, God repeats, be holy for I am holy. That's why.

It's not to exalt people. It's not to raise up people to be exalted. It's because God is exalted. So those who come into his service must be cleansed and must be separated out because God is glorious and he's holy and he's perfect and he's not like us. That's the holy man.

Set apart to serve this glorious God in a particular way. And Ezra, make sure they know it. Make sure that they know that they are holy because they are in the service of a holy God. That's the holy men. Now the holy articles.

Verse 28 identifies that all these things, all these inanimate objects, objects that will never move by themselves or think for themselves. They are holy to the Lord also. The men are holy and the articles are holy. That's what verse 28 says. Now look at the text.

We are back in Ezra chapter 8. We are looking at verse 25 now. Speaking of Ezra, and weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes and all Israel who were present had offered. If you're a good student of where we've been, that triggers something. Reading verse 25 and how it's structured and what it says short circuits your mind right back to the letter of Artaxerxes.

So turn back one page to Ezra chapter 7. This is from the letter that Artaxerxes gave to Ezra authorizing the return. Look at Ezra chapter 7 verses 14 through 19. Artxerxes writes, and whereas you are being sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem with regard to the law of your God which is in your hand, and whereas you are to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem. And whereas all the silver and gold that you may find in all the province of Babylon, along with the free will offering of the people and the priests, are to be freely offered for the house of their God in Jerusalem.

Now therefore be careful to buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs with their grain offerings and their drink offerings and offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem. And whatever seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do it according to the will of your God. Also the articles that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. So we're just seeing the fulfillment of what the king has authorized in chapter 7 in this official government document given by the king of Persia to Ezra. He says, I'm the king, I'll be offering.

My counselors and my princes will be offering too. And collect up free will offerings from anyone else in Babylon who is willing to offer. And then take this and sacrifice with it. So they are to gather up the free will offering of the king and his counselors and his princes and all those who are willing to give a free will offering. They are to buy sacrifices with it.

Then, after they have offered the sacrifices, the rest they have discretion, but he says according to the will of God. So God retains ownership. This is very important. Some of all this that is sent back is to be for offerings in the temple. There is going to be a lot left over, but it is so clear from the letter and from how Ezra treats this here that God is retaining the ownership.

Even though they can use this, even though they have a level of discretion. It's to be done according to the will of God. God is retaining the ownership. The temptation is to go right to the value. In our text we've got a list of stuff, and quantities and measurements.

So our brain says, okay, how much stuff? What's this worth? And to just skip right to talking value, but these are holy things because they are free will offerings to the Lord. So the significance of the medal is that it is a free will offering to God. It is holy.

It is His. It is a free will offering to a holy God. The significance isn't the value, even though the value is tremendous. We'll get to the value. But Don't let your mind go there too fast.

The list of things, the significance of the list of things, isn't in the monetary value, it's in the holiness of it. It's been given as an act of worship to a holy God, so these are holy things. This is all God's, the list of stuff. It's his stuff. It's to be used for worship.

Here's the list and the values. Current market values as of this morning by Google. 650 talents of silver is the first thing on the list. A talent is 75 pounds. So 650 talents times 75 pounds is 48, 750 pounds of silver.

Okay, almost 25 tons of silver. A ton is 2, 000 pounds. So almost 25 tons of silver, almost 50, 000 pounds of silver. This morning the market value is $17.79 an ounce. So you got to take your $17.79 and multiply it by 16 ounces to the pound and multiply by 48, 750 pounds, you get about $14 million in today's currency.

So If you were to cash in the 650 talents of silver today, then you'd have about $14 million in your pocket. You'd have a full pocket. The next thing on the list is silver articles valued at 100 talents. So using the same math you have about another $2 million for the silver articles weighing 100 talents. And you have 100 talents of gold, oh boy.

Okay, so 100 talents, talent is 75 pounds. So you have 7500, 7500 pounds of gold. Anybody know what the price of gold is this morning on Google? $1216 an ounce. $1216 an ounce times 16 ounces times 7, 500 is $146 million.

So 100 talents of gold is $146 million. Now the price of gold if you've watched it over the years it goes up and down sometimes it's $300 an ounce, Sometimes it's high like today at $1200 an ounce. But in any event, it's a lot of resources. It's tens of millions of dollars in today's currency, if not hundreds of millions of dollars. Then you have 20 gold basins, weighing a thousand drachmas, MacArthur says that's about 20 pounds, that's another $400, 000.

Then you have two vessels of fine polished bronze, precious as gold. A number of the commentators say this is possibly orichail, which is a copper alloy. Bronze is a copper alloy as well, which was really highly sought after in the ancient Near East. So whether that's true or not, I don't know. These two, either because of craftsmanship or because of what it was made out of, or essentially as precious as gold.

All told, you have a value of $162 million of today's currency. That casts the concerns over enemies on the road and the potential request for an escort of soldiers and horsemen in a different light, doesn't it? Yes. Your group of 6, 000 to 8, 000 people going back are carrying assets like $162 million today. You might need an enemy on the road if somebody knew you had $162 million on you.

The unbelieving commentators are skeptical of this. They say it has to be a corruption in the text. It couldn't be that much money. The Persians would never entrust them with that much money. So here's some more facts.

And by the way, the old commentators don't even blink an eye. They just take the Word of God at its word and say they got sent back with a lot of resources. And they leave it at that. That's what we should do actually. The new commentators are annoying in that sense.

They don't believe that God can superintend his word and preserve it. Shame on them. Other facts. Since World War II, the United States has given Israel $121 billion in aid. $121 billion with a B, not a million with an M.

All of a sudden, $162 million worth of assets being sent back is looking more plausible. This year we'll give $3.1 billion to Israel in military aid, okay, This year and next year through 2018, it's been appropriated through 2018. Annually, there's another half a billion dollars for other projects. So the Persians were wildly affluent. The Persian kings were famously drowning in riches.

They had it to give. They had it to give. And give it they did. Here's the point. Here's the point of the whole section.

God did this. God supplied His people abundantly. That's the whole point of calculating it out and being on Google to find out the price of an ounce of silver and an ounce of gold early in the morning. The whole point of that is just to show the abundance with which God supplied his people here in Ezra chapter 8. God did that and now they have a stewardship.

God didn't give them 162 million dollars worth of assets in today's currency to spend it on their own pleasures, to do with it as they wanted. He did it for his glory. He wanted to show himself able to abundantly provide for his people and then he wanted it offered back to him for his own glory. Ezra understands this. You can see the care with which Ezra is proceeding, how he sets aside men for this specific purpose, and he's careful and he counts everything, and he entrusts it to the most trustworthy, tells you that Ezra understands that there is a stewardship involved with the good hand of God upon them to give them all that they need and so much more.

So we have seen the holy men, we have seen the holy articles, now the charge. Watch and keep. So Ezra says, he looks these men in the eye and he says, you're holy to the Lord. You're not on your own business, you're on the Lord's business and you have a stewardship. Now watch these things and keep these things.

He's not making these men the owner of these things because they are holy things because they are God's things. They are servants of a holy God and therefore of the holy things. They are servants of these things, not owners of the things. The things that God has entrusted to His people, they are now servants of those things, not the other way around. They are not the owners of these things.

They are the servants of them because they belong to a holy God. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 4 verse 2. It's 1 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 2. Paul writes, Moreover, It is required in stewards that one be found faithful. That's what Paul says.

It is required of stewards. In other words, if you're given stewardship of something, if something is entrusted of you, there's something required. What is that? That you be found faithful. That you prove yourself worthy of the trust that has been given to you.

It is required in stewards that one be found faithful. So this is what Ezra is doing to these men. This is required of you, that you be found faithful. They are to watch and keep. That means they are to keep track of what has been entrusted to them and they are to guard them because they are God's things.

They are to guard God's things. They keep track of God's things. In the text next week we will see that there is an accounting. There is a day of reckoning for these things. They are going to be brought to the temple and the high priests will be there, the leading priests will be there, Levites will be there, and there is an inventory done of everything entrusted to them.

They will be found to have been faithful. But that's getting ahead. The whole point is that they're given a stewardship. This is about caring for things entrusted to you by the king of kings. So now we're going to sort of creep forward into application.

That is what this text is about. Caring for things that are entrusted to you by a glorious, holy God, the King of Kings entrusts his people with things. It's a stewardship. He doesn't transfer ownership. He gives stewardship.

You understand the difference. If I transfer ownership to you, it's yours. You do with it whatever you want to do with it. But if I give you a stewardship, it means that I'm going to expect it back and it is required of you that you be faithful with it. So this whole text is about God, a holy God, entrusting things to his people and that makes those things that are entrusted holy.

And it's not a transfer of ownership, it's an activation of stewardship. Applications, Four applications. You can see I left a lot of lines in the worksheet on applications. Hopefully we'll be application heavy today. Number one, in the new covenant, we are the holy priesthood.

We are the holy nation. Then they learned that, right? First Peter, turn to First Peter. We're going to go there again. Yes we are.

First Peter chapter 2. First Peter chapter 2. We're going to look at a decent sized section of this, so please it will be worth your while to turn there. Remember the Old Testament is the picture, the New Testament is the substance, the fulfillment. The Old Testament gave us a foretaste and a preview of what would be fuller and clearer and better in the New Testament.

So now Peter, when he looks back on the temple and the things associated with the temple, with the priesthood, with even the holy nation of Israel, he's able to say the picture means this. Now that the time of clarity and fullness has come in Jesus Christ. 1 Peter chapter 2, I'll be reading verses 4 through 10. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 4, Coming to Him, this is Jesus Christ, coming to Jesus as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious. You Also, as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Therefore it is also contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, he lacked, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore to you who believe he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. They stumbled being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people but now are the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." We began by talking about the holy men and saying that holiness is derived from God. That's why you're holy.

Not because people are elevated, but because God is holy and through cleansing you can come into the service of this holy God and be partakers of His holiness to participate in the holiness of this holy, holy, holy God. Here in 1 Peter 2 we see that holiness is derived from Christ. We come to him as to a living stone. Life comes from Jesus. It's derived from Him.

We become partakers. We also as living stones are being built into a holy temple. He's the living stone. He's called the chief cornerstone. So when it says that we are a holy priesthood, when it says that we are a holy nation, that is where it comes from.

From the living stone, from the chief cornerstone, it comes from our association with Christ. It comes from being in Christ. It comes from being in Christ. That's the cleansing that we find in Exodus 28 and 29. Cleansing for priests, cleansing from things that would be used in his service.

And then we see the great purpose for this. Why? Why would God give life to defiled dead things that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light so that his praises would be on our lips. His praises should be on our lips. That's the whole reason why he cleanses defiled dead men, women, and children so that we can take up his praises on our lips and give him glory for raising the dead.

Now tell me, how is this any different than Ezra? How is this any different than the Old Testament picture? God is making, he's associating with these people. He's making them holy, he's giving them holy things. Why?

So that they could spend it on themselves. No, so they could go back and worship him. He's giving them all that they need so that they will glorify Him. We must see ourselves as special. Not because we are special, but because God is special and we are connected to Him in Christ.

We are accepted in the beloved. That's how it's said in Ephesians 1. Accepted in the beloved. Jesus is the beloved. So you have to see yourself as special, even with the sins of the weak.

God can cleanse that. God cleanses that in Christ. We're not special because we've had a good week. We're special because Jesus shed His blood for a bride to purchase a people. We are holy, not because we have cleaned up our act.

We are holy because we are connected to a holy God through Christ and His Word. When we see life that way, it is different. Life is different. Life changes. When you see yourself not as cleaned up a little bit, but as connected to a holy God in Christ.

How should we live being sons and daughters of this holy God? That's really the question. When you come to this text with holy men and holy articles in the charge of what to do with them, that's the question. If you're a son of this holy God, if you're a daughter of this holy God, how should you live? You should live like a special person, like a holy person.

Number two. Okay, So number one was, that's us. This is not obscure history about 12 or 24 guys who got set off to the side to do a particular thing. This is about us. We are the holy priesthood.

We are the holy nation in the New Covenant. Number two. How are you thinking about your stuff? How are you thinking about your stuff? Turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 16.

Wow, I could have gone anywhere in Matthew 25 about stewardship parables, but I'm skipping over all the Matthew 25 stewardship parables, which you're now thinking about, so I sort of get it on the side. To look at Luke 16, verses 1-13. Hopefully you're in Luke 16. Read along. Luke 16 verse 1.

Jesus also said to his disciples, there was a certain rich man who had a steward. An accusation was brought against him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward. Then the steward said within himself, what shall I do?

For my master is taking away the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig, I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his master's debtors to him and said to the first, How much do you owe my master? And he said, A hundred measures of oil.

So he said to him, Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty. He said to another, How much do you owe? He said, a hundred measures of wheat. He said to him, Take your bill and write eighty. So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.

The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. And he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon." The point of the parable is not that the shrewd steward did well. The point of the parable is that the shrewd servant made use of the things that were entrusted to him to give himself an inheritance at the end of his stewardship. It's called unrighteous mammon because of what Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 6.

He says, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. You can get into all sorts of trouble with money, with things. It leads in a hundred different directions that are bad. And yet, Jesus actually rebukes the sons of light in here that they don't use the things entrusted to them, their stewardship well. They don't even use it as well as the crook in the story, is what Jesus is saying.

He wishes that the sons of light would use the things entrusted to them more shrewdly so that at the end of their stewardship they'd be friends with someone who could give them an everlasting home. He's not talking about people on the earth, he's talking about God himself. That's the only one who can give an everlasting home. It's nobody on this earth. So we're told that the things entrusted to us are a stewardship and should be used for the glory of one who can give you an everlasting home.

Is that how you're viewing your stuff? Is that how you're viewing your paycheck? I labored, I got the money, I can do whatever I want with it. Not so fast, says Jesus. It's a stewardship.

It actually originated with God, who gave you the way to gain provision. You should use it to make a friend who can give you an everlasting home at the end of your stewardship. That's what Luke 16 is about. Now, this is not just about money. Listen to what Paul says.

In fact, it's not even primarily about money. So, We read Luke 16 and we think, I've got to do better with my paycheck. I've got to be less selfish with my money. I've got to give more. I've got to do more.

That may be true, but that's not the primary application of what is entrusted to the Lord's people. Listen to what Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 7, Paul says, But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. So Paul is talking about why he would use us.

We are the earthen vessels. And he says there is treasure in the earthen vessels. What is he talking about? Is he talking about your paycheck? No, he is talking about the gospel.

If you look at what Paul says before that in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and after that in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, it's gospel, gospel, all gospel, nothing but gospel. That's the treasure entrusted to these earthen vessels. Would you trade the gospel for the 162 million dollars? You better not. What would it gain a man?

What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his soul? The destiny of your soul isn't up to the $162 million. It's up to the gospel. It's up to the work of Jesus Christ. We're entrusted with this.

It better not be an unused asset. It has implications for the paycheck and what you do with your house and your car and your computer. But The primary application is what's our greatest treasure and is it an underutilized asset? Is it even a utilized asset at all? If our greatest treasure is the gospel, who here can argue that it's not our greatest treasure?

As the Lord's people, how are we utilizing that asset? It's our greatest asset. It must be used. It must be put into play. Number two, how are you thinking about your stuff?

And the gospel is part of your stuff. You probably never thought of it that way. I never have either, But it is. It's our greatest asset. Number three, prayer never invalidates stewardship.

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever. Prayer never invalidates stewardship. Not even fasting and prayer invalidates stewardship. Last week, fasting and prayer. This week Ezra said, well now that's just taken care of, now we'll just skip off to Jerusalem.

Uh-uh, no way. That's not what's happening in this text. Ezra having fasted, Ezra having prayed, Ezra having led the people in the same is now taking great pains to make sure that God's things are treated carefully and responsibly. Prayer never invalidates stewardship. Here's what Matthew Henry says, our prayers must always be seconded with our endeavors.

In a business meeting, if somebody makes a motion, then the motion to proceed has to be seconded. Somebody else has to stand up and say, I second that motion. This is what he is referring to. Our prayer must always be seconded with our endeavors. In other words, you pray in faith and then You act in faith.

You act like God has heard your prayers and off you go. So prayer is not a substitute for action. Prayer is actually an initiation of action on our part to act as stewards of his things. Psalm 127 verse 1, Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

So our lives should reflect this. This doesn't mean don't build a house, just pray that a house would appear out of heaven. It doesn't mean you shouldn't post a guard over the city, because God guards the city. So there's no point in even putting a guard up there. That's not what Psalm 127 is teaching.

Psalm 127 says, you build, but you better pray before you build. God is in charge of the results. You post a watchman, but you better pray before you post a watchman, because it will be in vain if God is not guarding the city. Prayer never invalidates stewardship. Finally, this is a call to holiness for us.

It's a call to be fully His because God is holy, holy, holy and those who serve him must be cleansed and they must be holy. Turn to Isaiah 52. We'll end in Isaiah 52. Okay, math students, Isaiah 52 is one chapter before. Isaiah 53, very good.

Isaiah 53 is about who? Jesus. The suffering servant is Isaiah 52. So these are the words. We're getting ready to read the words that lead into Isaiah 53.

So we're going to read Isaiah 52 verses 7 through 12. I'm going to stop in 12, but then the heading in my Bible, the uninspired heading is the sin bearing servant. That's how Isaiah 52 ends. Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 53, the end of 52 and 53 just flows right together, although they're most often not read that way. Isaiah 52 verses 7 through 12, and by the way, my understanding of this passage that we're getting ready to read is that the return of captives from Babylon to Jerusalem is the partial fulfillment of what we are getting ready to read, but Jesus is the full fulfillment of it.

We know that because Paul actually quotes it in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Actually, he quotes it in Romans chapter 10. That's wrong. Isaiah 52 verses 7 through 12. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns.

Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart, depart.

Go out from there. Touch no unclean thing. Go out from the midst of her. Be clean you who bear the vessels of the Lord." I believe what we're reading in Ezra is a partial fulfillment of this. Going out of Babylon, verse 12, for you shall not go out with haste, nor go out by flight.

For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel would be your rear guard. What's happening in Ezra is just a partial fulfillment of the redemption through Jesus Christ that is fulfilled in the time of the Messiah. And the point is that those who bear His vessels are to be clean. They are to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, but then they are to come out from them and be holy. That's what Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 17.

We must come out and be separate. We are a holy people not because we're anything in and of ourselves, but because we are servants of a holy God. A holy, holy, holy God. Let's pray. Oh Father, help us to be a holy people.

Help us to see life and the things you entrust us rightly, help us to be good stewards of all your abundant provision for us. Thank you God for giving us all that we need and so much of what we even desire on top of that. You're such a good God and a faithful provider. God I pray that you would help us to be stewards who are found faithful. That we would be a holy people who come out from the world and are separate to your glory in Jesus name.

Amen.