The sermon titled 'Walk by Faith, Not by Sight' by Jason Dohm, draws connections between Ezra 4 and 2 Corinthians 5:7 to emphasize the importance of faith over sight in the life of a believer. The historical context of Ezra 4 involves the Jews rebuilding Jerusalem amidst opposition from the Samaritans who wrote letters to King Artaxerxes accusing them of rebellion. The sermon explores how believers face similar spiritual opposition today, likening it to a conflict between two kingdoms. Artaxerxes' decision to halt the rebuilding due to these accusations serves as a reminder of the challenges faced by the faithful. The speaker encourages believers to pray for those in authority, recognize that dark days are temporary snapshots, and to trust in God's greater plan. By illustrating past biblical rebellions against kings and the eventual fulfillment of God's promises, the sermon reinforces the message that believers should walk by faith, trusting in God's unfailing word.

Ezra 4 starting in verse 7 through the end of this section which is 24. Please follow along with me. In the days of Artaxerxes also Bishlum, Methra-Dath, Tabel and the rest of their companions wrote to Art-Exerces, king of Persia. And the letter was written in Aramaic script and translated into Aramaic language. Rahim, the commander, and Shemshei, the scribe, wrote a letter against Jerusalem to King Artaxerxes in this fashion.

From Rahum the commander, Shemshei the scribe, and the rest of their companions, representatives of Dinaeites, the Afrsathites, the Tarpalites, the people of Persia, and Erechon, Babylon, and Shushan, the Dehavites, the Elamites, and the rest of the nations, whom the great and noble Osnipper took captive and settled in the cities of Samaria and the remainder beyond the river and so forth. This is a copy of the letter they sent to him, to King Artaxerxes, from your servants, the men of the region beyond the river and so forth. Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us at Jerusalem and are building the rebellious and evil city and are finishing its walls and repairing the foundations. Let it now be known to the king that if the city is built and the walls completed, that they will not pay tax, tribute, or custom, and the king's treasury will be diminished. Now because we receive support from the palace, it is not proper for us to see the king's dishonor.

Therefore, we have sent and informed the king that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers, and you will find in the book of the records and know that this city is a rebellious city and harmful to kings and provinces and that they have incited sedition within the city in former times for which cause the city was destroyed. We inform the king that if the city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the result will be that you will have no dominion beyond the river. The king sent an answer to Rahim the commander, to Shem Shei the scribe, to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and to the remainder beyond the river. Peace and so forth. The letter which you sent to me has been clearly read before me and I gave the command and a search has been made and it was found that the city in former times has revolted against kings and rebellion and sedition have been fostered in it.

There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the regions beyond the river and tax, tribute, and custom were paid to them. Now give the command to make these men cease that this city may not be built until the command is given by me Take heed now that you do not fail to do this Why should damage increase to hurt to the hurt of the Kings? Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes letter was read before Rahum, Shemshei the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease. Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia. The title of our sermon this morning is, walking by faith, not by sight.

It actually doesn't come out of our text. It comes out of 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7, where Paul talks about the life of someone who's been grafted into Christ, someone who is in Christ Jesus, and he says we walk by faith, not by sight. So I'll be bringing what Paul says there to bear on Ezra chapter 4. Last week Ezra zoomed out and he showed us a century. He actually showed us 117 years.

He showed us a century of relentless spiritual opposition, so that you would understand. We would understand together that it wasn't just personal offense taken at The Jews refusing to let the people who lived in Samaria join with them in building in the temple. But there was something much deeper than personal offense. There were two kingdoms in conflict. And that's always true.

There are always below the surface two kingdoms in conflict. And so there would be a hundred years plus of relentless spiritual opposition. He shows us across those 117 years the reign of the four major kings. In verse 5, he speaks of Cyrus until Darius. Then in verse 6, he speaks of Ahasuerus.

And then in verse 7 and following, he talks about Artaxerxes. And in the reign of Artaxerxes, it appears from last week's text that there were two letters written accusing the Jews, against the Jews, in an attempt to turn the king of the whole empire, Artaxerxes, against the work that the Lord's people were conducting in rebuilding the temple at Jerusalem. And So we actually have the contents of one of those two letters. And in that letter, the inhabitants of Samaria are accusing the Jews of rebuilding, quote, the rebellious and evil city, end quote. And The implication of that is nobody builds, nobody rebuilds a rebellious and evil city unless they are rebellious and evil themselves.

They tell the king, you let them finish this city and the second they finished it. They'll be like their forefathers You won't get one more dime of taxes And you will lose All your influence in the region beyond the river which was a huge region much beyond Judah Judah would just be a speck on that map. But the implication is if you let these small, weak people rebel, then the rest of the people beyond the river will rebel and you'll totally lose control of what was a buffer zone between the Persian Empire and Egypt. So they're saying very ominous things about what will happen if King Artaxerxes lets the Lord's people continue in their work. So as we go to the text, let's go to the text in prayer.

Oh God, we find ourselves so easily swayed by the circumstances of the day, the circumstances of the moment. And God sometimes paralyzed by our circumstances and put off course by our circumstances. God, I thank you for this text that shows a dark day in the life of your people. And it helps us to know that There will likely be dark days for us as well, but these things cannot move us. We can't allow these things to move us.

So God, I pray that you would use this deposit, today's deposit, to make us an immovable people, not because we're strong, but because you're strong and we trust in you. May it be so in Jesus' name, Amen. So we begin by reading the response that comes from King Artaxerxes as before beginning in verse 17 and reading through verse 22. The king sent an answer to Rahum the commander, to Shemshai the scribe, to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and to the remainder beyond the river. Peace and so forth.

The letter which you sent to us has been clearly read before me, and I gave the command and a search has been made. And it was found that this city in former times has revolted against kings, and rebellion and sedition have been fostered in it. There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the region beyond the river and tax, tribute, and custom were paid to them. Now give the command to make these men cease, that this city may not be built until the command is given by me. Take heed now that you do not fail to do this.

Why should damage increase to the hurt of the king?" So this is King Artaxerxes answer to the letter that was sent to him. A letter went from Samaria from two men, Rahum, a high level official of beyond the river. Beyond the river is actually a term of an entire region. So it's just not the other side of the river, it's a technical term for a region of the Persian Empire, now the Persian Empire. And so Rahum is a high-level official on behalf of the Empire in this vast region and Shimshai is the scribe of the region.

Again, like I said last week, a scribe would be one who reported directly to the king of the empire and it was his job to make sure that he got the straight communication. No bad information was communicated to him and then to his companions. So he gets a letter from this group of people and the response goes to exactly the same group. That's what we see in the text. And in the response he opens with peace and so forth.

So what do you make of that? Well, Peace is the common greeting. And in Aramaic, by the way, everything that we read last week, this week, continuing into about the halfway point of chapter 6, in The original language is Aramaic, it's not Hebrew. So almost all of the Old Testament is written in Hebrew, but there are a few spots that aren't written in Hebrew, they're written in Aramaic, and this is one of them. So this is sort of an unusual spot of the Old Testament, and we don't get it because we're reading in English and it's all English for us.

But this portion is written in Aramaic and that is because it is the official language of the Babylonian Empire and then after the Persians take over the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire. So this is Aramaic. So the word here, peace, in Aramaic means literally welfare, prosperity, peace, well-being. So what's happening here? They're being wished well.

It's like you might begin some of your correspondence. I often begin my emails or letters that I write, I hope you're well. It's exactly the same here. And it is the common greeting of the day. So the ESV actually translates it greetings because that's essentially what's being given here, is greetings.

ESV instead of and so forth, which is a little odd to us, we almost translate that as you know yada yada yada in our minds you know and and so or whatever blah blah blah and it's not really that ESV translates it and now And if you've got a new King James in your lap, it probably has a note that says literally, and now. So it's simply a transitional phrase that signals that you're at the end of the greeting and now you're headed into the substance of the letter. So we saw that last week and so forth. It's not blah blah blah, it is and now we're transitioning out of the greeting into the substance of the letter. Artaxerxes relates that he did receive their letter and that he understands the contents of it and that he acted on it.

They had requested in their letter to him that he have a search of the archives done, a search of the records done to see if what they're asserting, what they're saying is true. That Jerusalem is rebellious and evil city that has rebelled in time past repeatedly against kings. And so our exerxes when he replies he says yep I had that record search done and it and it is so Jerusalem has repeatedly rebelled against kings in their history and the Bible records the same he went back and looked he had his his servants look at the records of the empire, but he could have looked at the Bible and found the same thing. In 2 Kings chapter 18 you have Hezekiah, king over Judah, living in Jerusalem, successfully rebelling against two kings of Assyria. So dating all the way back to the Assyrian Empire, Assyrian Kings coming against Jerusalem and then making them vassal kings and then rebelling, successfully rebelling against those kings of Assyria.

So if you go to 2 Kings chapter 18, you're going to find what the servants of our exerxes found in the records of the Empire or in 2 Kings chapter 24 which is the last chapter of 2 Kings, you'll find Jehoiakim rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar and you'll find Jehoiachin his son rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar And you'll find Zedekiah rebelling against Nebuchadnezzar. And finally, Nebuchadnezzar has had it with the rebellion of Jerusalem. And he annihilates the city. And he tears down the temple, which has brought us to where we are today in Ezra. So it is true.

There has been rebellion and sedition repeatedly against kings by those who are governing Judah. In verse 20, in the response, the letter of response, we find out that the check of the records, when Artaxerxes' servants went and checked the records of the empire, it not only found that there had been rebellion against kings, it also revealed something else. There have also been mighty kings over Jerusalem who have ruled over all the region beyond the river and tax tribute and custom were paid to them." Now this can be interpreted two different ways and the commentators are pretty evenly split. So I'm going to give you the two different ways you can interpret this and then I'm going to tell you which way I lean and then I'm going to leave it to you to sort it out. So way number one is that Artxerxes is saying in the past there were great foreign kings that ruled over this region, as he is ruling, as Artaxerxes is ruling over this region, Assyrian kings, Babylonian kings, and now Persian kings.

And what Artxerxes is really saying here is, why should I be less than these kings? These kings ruled over this region, These Assyrian kings, Babylonian kings, Persian kings ruled over this region and received tribute taxation from this region. Why should I be less than them? You make sure that I receive the honor that is due to me from this region." It could be taken that way. You could be communicating that.

The second way, or it could be way number two, meaning the mighty Jewish kings, The two greatest kings of the Lord's people were David and Solomon. So I want to trace this out because this would be consistent actually with a promise of God. So I want to trace this through three texts and you're welcome to follow me if you'd like. I'm going to begin in Genesis chapter 15. So if you want to follow along with me, turn to Genesis chapter 15.

In Genesis chapter 15, God is coming and making a covenant with Abram. He's not even Abraham yet. God hasn't changed his name yet, so he's still Abram. And God is making a covenant with him. And God comes and animals are cut in two and put in a line and this brings us to the covenant in Genesis chapter 15.

I'll be reading verses 17 and 18 because this because God makes a promise here. Genesis 15 verse 17, and it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torts that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, to your descendants I have given this land from the river of Egypt to the great river the river Euphrates. The Canites, the Canizites, the Cadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Raphaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. So here, God is making a promise to give Abrams, soon to be Abraham's descendants, this vast territory from the river of Egypt all the way to the great river Euphrates.

So the next time we see something about the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham is in Joshua chapter 1. So fast forward to Joshua chapter 1 and we'll read the first five verses there. Genesis 15 we have the promise of God to Abraham to give him this vast territory. In Joshua chapter 1 verses 1-5 we read this. After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead.

Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving them, the children of Israel. Every place the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you as I said to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea, going toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.

I will not leave you nor forsake you." So when Moses died and Joshua began to leave the people, God promises Joshua that he will never leave him or forsake him, that all his enemies would not be able to stand before him and that he would give him this great territory, much like what was described in Genesis chapter 15. And then finally, if you'll turn to 1 Kings, we see a description of the land that David conquered when David was king and that Solomon is ruling over. So it's in 1 Kings chapter 4 and it's a description of really the prosperity and abundance and broad ranging influence of Solomon as he ruled over the kingdom of Israel. 1 Kings chapter 4 verses 20-25. Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing.

So Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river, you probably have a note that says that is the Euphrates, to the land of the Philistines as far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. So this would tie in very well with what our exerces is saying, that there were great kings who ruled over Jerusalem, over all the land beyond the Euphrates, and they brought tribute. Continuing in verse 22, Now Solomon's provision for one day was thirty cores of fine flour, sixty cores of meal, ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roe bucks, and fattened fowl. For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the river from Tifsa, even to Gaza, namely over all the kings on this side of the river." Again that's capital R river, not just A river but the river Euphrates.

And he had peace on every side all around him. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba all the days of Solomon." So this is what I think it is. It could be one or the other. The way it's stated in the text I think leads it open to either interpretation, but I lean towards this, that he actually, in the records of the Empire, uncovered the reign of David and Solomon, who received what God had promised, all the way back to Genesis 15. And in this case, if that is right, and he's speaking of the reigns of David and Solomon, then he's recognizing the Jews as a legitimate threat based on their history.

That's what he would be doing if that's what he's communicating there. He's saying, this used to be a mighty kingdom. And they are a legitimate threat. Now in verses 21 and 22, Artaxerxes gives a command that they must make the Lord's people cease their work. So the letter comes back to Rahum and Shemshai and their companions and it's very direct with what is to be done.

They are to make the Lord's people cease the work. And he gives them a stern warning and it's even a veiled threat. It's sort of a backward threat that they do not fail to do it. Listen to how the NASB translates that. Beware of being negligent in this matter.

So the king of this great empire, Nehemiah 1 says that Artaxerxes was, excuse me, Esther 1 says that Ahasuerus was over 127 provinces. So what an empire. So the king of this great empire says, beware of being negligent in this matter. You would think twice before you didn't carry out these orders. Or the ESV translates it and take care not to be slack in this matter.

Now verse 23, we see that they are not slack in this matter. That they beware that they don't, that they're not negligent in this matter. Verse 23, now when the copy of King Art-Exerxes letter was read before Rahum, Shemshai the scribe and their companions. They went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews, and by force of arms made them cease. Made them cease.

The letter is received from Artaxerxes and it's read and here we see a great eagerness, a great eagerness to oppose the Lord's people in the work that the Lord's people are doing. They went up in haste to Jerusalem against the Jews. So you can see lurking beyond their letter to King Artaxerxes, they have this overblown rhetoric, this really dark rhetoric about the Jews and what they're doing. And there's malice lurking in the background as they write their letter. And now when they get this command back from the king, make them cease, there's malice lurking behind the words in haste and against the Jews.

In Proverbs chapter 1, Solomon is speaking with his son and pleading with him not to go with God-haters. That's what's happening in Proverbs chapter 1. Solomon says to his son, Don't you go with God-haters. And then he begins to describe the God-haters. And one of the things he says about them in Proverbs 1 verse 16 is, For their feet run to evil.

Their feet run to evil. God-haters can't wait to get on with the business of opposing God, of running into evil. And that's really, I think, what we see in Ezra chapter 4. They get this letter back from Artaxerxes, and they cannot get to Jerusalem fast enough to put their foot on the necks of the Lord's people. We don't get detail about what by force of arms means practically.

In other words, we don't get a series of events that shows how they made them stop by force of arms. But we do see this in Ezra chapter 1. In Ezra chapter 1, messengers have come from Jerusalem to Nehemiah. Did I say Ezra chapter 1? Nehemiah chapter 1.

In Nehemiah chapter 1, messengers have come from Jerusalem bringing word to Nehemiah about what's going on in Jerusalem. And this is what we see in Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 3. And they, these messengers, said to me, Nehemiah, the survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire." It's very possible, and maybe even be probable, that what is described in Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 3, this condition of Jerusalem that these messengers are bringing to word of to Nehemiah, is the result of them going up and making the Lord's people cease by force of arms. Probably the gates are burned at this time, although it doesn't say that explicitly in Nehemiah chapter 3.

The indication is the Lord's people have been working on the walls, trying to repair the walls, And then when the order comes back to make them cease, they go undo any repairs that have been made, and maybe burn down the gates. Now, verse 24, the last verse of our section. Unless you think this is going to be a short sermon, because I'm on the last verse, I have a lot of applications. So settle in. Verse 24.

Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia." We have a great war going on at the dome house about whether this is Darius or Darius. So I was really happy, Mark, when you read it as Darius, because Abby makes a point to read it, Darius, anytime we do it. Because that's how John Piper says it, and we love John Piper. A little diversion. Back to the text.

Here what Ezra is doing is transitioning us back to the time of Darius. Okay? That's what's happening in verse 24. This is very important. If you don't understand this, this becomes a very confusing text of Scripture.

If you read verses 23 and 24 as being sequential, then you get very confused. If you read it that the letter and the people of Samaria's response to the letter resulted in verse 24, then what you're saying is the letter that was written in the time of Artaxerxes caused what happened 70 years earlier. That's impossible. That can't happen. You can't write a letter today that causes something to happen in your grandparents time.

So verse 23 and 24 read like they're sequential, like one causes the other, but That's not true. That's not what's happening. And that's not what Ezra's intent is. Ezra's intent is to say to you and me as we're reading, we're done with zooming out and looking at the 117 years. And we're going back.

We're going back to the chronological sequence. That is the whole purpose of verse 24. So verse 24 actually brings us back from viewing the century of opposition to the time of Darius. So verses 6 through 23 are the detour. Remember last week I said there was going to be a detour.

Well That is the span of the detour, 6 through 23, where he's been going month by month. And then he says, look at this century. And the point is to show you the context, the larger context, that there's opposition that's going to go on for a hundred plus years okay but then having done that having shown you the century of opposition now he brings us back to where he left off so you can snip out six through 23 and have everything still make perfect sense. Now 6 through 23 are incredibly valuable. It's incredibly valuable that we come up to the high level and view the whole century in 6-23.

So I'm glad Ezra did that and it's inspired, it's wonderful, but you could snip out the digression and have everything make perfect sense. So if we did that, here's what we would have. Here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to read verses 4 and 5 where we left off, and then I'm going to snip out 6 through 23, and then I'm going to read verse 24, because it puts us right back where he left off. So you can follow along with me if you like.

I'm in Ezra chapter 4. Again, I'll read 4 and 5 and then skip to the last verse of the chapter. Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia." So you can see exactly how this fits together.

He's putting us right back and then this is where we're going to be next week as we begin chapter 5 we're going to be it will be the time of Darius and And it will have to do with the building of the temple which was not what 6 through 23 was about at all It had You have no mention of the temple in 6-23. That's about the building of the walls. Okay, Applications. I have three of them. I have three of them.

Number one, pray for all who are in authority. Pray for them. Why should we do that? Well, Paul tells us to. That's a really good reason to pray for all who are in authority.

Listen to Paul in 1 Timothy 2 verses 1 and 2. Paul in 1 Timothy 2 verses 1 and 2. All in 1 Timothy 2 verses 1 and 2. Therefore, I exert first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, pray for all men, for kings and all who are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. In 1st Timothy 2 verses 1 and 2, Paul tells us, commands us to pray for all who are in authority for a very specific reason.

That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. Did you know that it is much more difficult to live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence if your authorities are frowning on you, if they are distrustful of you, if they are opposing you. And it is a blessing to live in a time where your leaders will let you live quietly, peaceably, in all godliness and reverence. It gets infinitely harder to live that way. Do you want to live quietly and peaceably?

In all godliness and reverence? It's harder to be godly under rulers that oppose Christianity. It's harder to be godly. There are temptations, there are a hundred temptations to sin. You don't have when you live without the opposition.

It's harder to live reverently when those who are in authority are opposed to you because you're Christian. Christian or not, people in authority have a hard job. We see that in our text. Artxerxes, over 127 provinces, has a hard job. Think of this.

He's being advised By those from Samaria, maybe fifteen hundred miles away with a hidden agenda. He doesn't know what their agenda is Leaders face this all the time. That is the life of leadership. And Artaxerxes had it worse than most. They're people 1500 miles away.

They're his servants, but they have a hidden agenda. And he doesn't know, he's not there. So we should pray for our leaders because they have a hard job. They face things like this all the time. They have people whispering in their ears.

Opposition to the faith, opposition to Christianity, opposition to Christians all the time. And they're often blind to the hidden agendas of the people who are whispering in their years. Praying for all those who are in authority is lacking in our corporate life. We pray a lot. We have a time of corporate prayer where heads of households can stand and pray on Sunday mornings.

We had that this morning. Nobody prayed for anybody in authority, including me. So I'm not beating on you for not praying for an authority this morning. I knew I was going to preach this sermon and I still forgot to do it. I could have set myself up for success by praying for those in authority this morning, but I forgot.

It's lacking in our corporate lives and I suspect that's because it's lacking in our personal lives. I suspect that we're not obeying Paul's command to pray for those who are in authority. And you know what? The joke's on us. This is to our harm, because it was a very specific reason why Paul commands us to pray for all those who are in authority.

That we may live quietly and peaceably in all godliness and reverence. So number one, pray for all those who are in authority, that we may live quietly and peaceably in all godliness and reverence. So number one, pray for all those who are in authority. The truth is Ezra chapter four is just a good reminder that those who are in authority over us have a lot to do with our daily lives, they sure do. Number two, Dark days are a snapshot in time, not the end of the story.

Dark days are a snapshot in time and not the end of the story. Ever had a dark day? Ever had a dark month? Ever had a dark year? Ever had dark years chained together?

The Bible tells us this might be so. So as we become better students of the Bible, we'll be less surprised by dark days, months, years strung together. It might be so. And this gives us perspective that that's not the end of the story. It is a snapshot.

The beauty of the narrative that Ezra takes us through in Nehemiah from start to finish is that you get to see even with the dark days that God brings upon His people. God has brought this upon His people. He knows what He's doing And He's not doing anything without a purpose. He has something in mind in every dark day that He brings upon His people in Ezra and Nehemiah and here in Youngsville at Sovereign Redeemer Community Church. He knows what He's doing when He brings dark days upon us.

They are never without purpose. But if you don't realize, if we're not good students of the Bible, and we don't realize that, then You go down the vortex of discouragement. The whirlpool of discouragement. Because you can't see God in it. You don't realize that God has brought this to you for His own purposes.

I'm not suggesting by knowing that we can discern every time what the purpose is. But the point is, we're given these texts to help us to trust him, to know that these dark days are a snapshot in time and not the end of the story. So we'll look to Him in faith. In today's text, the schemes of the enemies prevail. They work.

The battle is lost in today's text. The work of God is stopped in today's text. But today's text is in the end of the Bible. In chapter 7 verse 6, the same art exerxes, the same king who stops the work in chapter 4 is going to authorize Ezra's request to take more captives back to Jerusalem to engage in the work. And he's going to give Ezra a letter of Strong support.

Same king, new day. God is continuing to work out His plan. So you can't turn away in despair in Ezra chapter 4. You have to read on to Ezra chapter 7 and see the same king, strongly supporting the Lord's people. Nehemiah chapter 2 is the twelfth year of King Artaxerxes reign and he's going to notice that his cupbearer is sad.

His cupbearer is not usually sad, but today his cupbearer is sad. His cupbearer is Nehemiah. He says, why are you sad? Nehemiah tells him, I've got a report that my people are languishing in Jerusalem. Would you let me go back?

And he sends him back. This is the king that sends back the second wave of captives back to Jerusalem, Ezra, and the third wave back to Jerusalem, Nehemiah. Maybe God has you in Ezra chapter 4, figuratively in your life. It's a dark day. It's a dark year.

A couple of dark years might have actually been strung together. Do not stop reading there. Press on. Trust God. Know that He brings the dark days for a purpose.

Walk by faith. Don't you dare walk by sight. If you walk by sight, you'll never make it to Ezra 7, where the same king changes his mind and supports the Lord's people. Don't stop, read on. Figuratively speaking, press on, trust God, look to Him in faith.

Don't walk by sight. When you read the Bible, you find out what folly it is to walk by sight. Because you find out that our God, the real God, the God of the Bible, the true and living God is a God who brings dark days to make His people grow up. To stretch them and change them and mold them and shape them. You can't stop reading in Ezra 4.

You've got to keep reading until you get to Ezra chapter 7. If you want to know the real end of the story, you have to go to the last chapters of Revelation. This is the ultimate end of the story. There's going to be a lot of lifetimes lived from the beginning of time to the end of Revelation. From Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, there are many, many lifetimes lived.

But the real end of the story, We find a final crushing of Satan and all his servants. We find a wedding feast, where Jesus is the groom and the bride has made herself ready. We find a new Jerusalem descending out of heaven. There's no sun because you don't need lights because God is there. And He is light and in Him is no darkness.

You find no tears there. So there are dark days. There are battles lost. There are tears shed. But a day is coming when the New Jerusalem descends from heaven and the tears are gone.

And you don't need lights because God is there. There will be eternal joy in His presence. But before that time, many battles will be lost before the war is won. Not all the battles, but many battles will be lost before the war is won. There's a mixture, there's a mixture, there's a mixture.

Which is what makes the prosperity gospel so laughable. The prosperity gospel says you don't have to have mixture, you can have a life of all victory all the time. How long is it going to take before you're disillusioned when you follow that gospel? How long will they be able to preach That junk in Nigeria where Christians are being martyred every day. How's the prosperity gospel working for the Christians in Nigeria?

God is even there, God is presiding even over that. And He's more wise than you and me who wouldn't have done that. Because He has things in His mind that are bigger than the things in our mind. And they're more glorious than the things in our mind. So number one was pray for all those in authority.

Number two was dark days are a snapshot in time. A picture, not the end of the movie, not the end of the story. And finally, number three, therefore walk by faith. Therefore, because the dark days are just a snapshot, therefore, because of that, walk by faith not by sight. And I want to start with unbelievers.

To say, if you have not repented and believed the gospel, you are at the mercy of circumstance. Jesus at the end of Matthew chapter 9 he looks out on the multitude and he has compassion because they're weary, they're beaten down. He can just look over the mass of humanity, most of which have not repented and believe the gospel, and they're ground to powder by circumstances of life. By self-inflicted wounds, by dark days. But the truth of the matter is, The Lord's people aren't like that.

The Lord's people are the flower in the desert. You say, what is that flower doing out in the desert? There's not enough water to sustain that flower. That's what it looks like Sometimes. The Lord's people can bloom in the desert and they can be sustained.

God does this for His own glory. The people look and they say, What is that flower doing in the middle of the desert? Why do my dark days ground me to powder? Make me weary and heavy laden. But they have the same dark days and they're blooming with no visible water source.

Oh, but there's an invisible water source. They are the tree planted by rivers of water. Their roots go down into the living waters of Jesus Christ and they're sustained. If you have not repented and believed the Gospel, life is going to ground you into powder. Young unbelievers are brash.

They laugh, they scoff. But life will teach them their lessons. Circumstances of life will grind them into powder one day at a time. But those who have repented and believe the Gospel who are in Christ have a well of living water, rivers of living water, welling up to eternal life. They can bloom even in the desert.

Even if you are a Christian, There's still a temptation to walk by sight. Walking by sight is a road of fear, it's a road of uncertainty, it's a road of discouragement. Walking by sight, brothers and sisters in Christ, is a fool's errand. Because we can't see around the bend. Your relief, your relief from the dark days that have become a string of dark years might be right around the bend.

You're blind to it. You just have to press forward and trust God. He will sustain you. He's, Peter talked, when we were in our study of 1 Peter, he talks about the great and precious promises. We have them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, lay hold on the great and precious promises he will fulfill everyone. We memorized Isaiah chapter 44. It's 140 years before the fulfillment of them in Ezra chapter 1. Has there ever been a more glorious fulfillment of a prophecy than to see Isaiah utter the words about Cyrus and what he will do 140 years before he does it? The answer is yes.

The prophecies of Christ are even better still. But that's an amazing one. What an encouragement to know that God keeps His promises all the time. Every promise we have, the great and precious promises, brothers and sisters, lay hold of them by faith. They are yours.

I want us to come out of Ezra chapter 4 betting everything. Okay? Come out of Ezra chapter 4 ready to bet everything. Not based on sight, not based on your analysis of the circumstances, but based on the character of God, knowing that He will keep His promises to you. Look to Him in faith, Walk by faith.

Oh God, I thank you for your word. Transform us into a people who walk by faith. Oh God, make us a steadfast people Who glory in our weaknesses. Who even know how to glory in our dark days knowing that you will prove yourself. That you have promised to complete every good work that you've started.

I thank you for the hope that we have in your word. Help us to be a people looking to you in everything, trusting you, betting everything that you will keep your great and precious promises. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Thanks for watching!