In the sermon 'The King's Heart In the Hand of the Lord,' Jason Dohm explores the biblical narrative found in Ezra 1:1-4, where Cyrus the Great is stirred by God to issue a proclamation that allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Dohm emphasizes that this act demonstrates God's control over the hearts of kings, aligning with Proverbs 21:1, where God directs the heart like a river. The sermon draws parallels between Cyrus' acknowledgment of God's sovereignty and the broader Christian theme that authority comes from God, referencing both Isaiah's prophecy about Cyrus and Jesus' dialogue with Pontius Pilate. While Cyrus might not have been a monotheistic believer, his actions fulfilled God's promise to end the Jewish exile after 70 years, showcasing God's faithfulness. Dohm encourages the congregation to reflect on how they can participate in God's work, whether by going to fulfill the Great Commission or by supporting those who do, illustrating this with the analogy of holding the rope for those who go down the well. The sermon concludes with a call to reorder one's life for the sake of God's glory, highlighting the joy and responsibility that come with spiritual freedom and the privilege of worship.

This morning's text is Ezra chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all the kingdom and also put it in writing saying thus says Cyrus king of Persia all the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me and he has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah who is among you of all his people May his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea in Judah and build the house of the Lord, God of Israel. He is God, which is in Jerusalem and whoever is left in all in any place where he dwells, let the man of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the free will offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. I don't know how many Easter sermons are being preached out of the book of Ezra.

It's possible we're in the minority. The title of the sermon is The King's Heart in the Hand of the Lord. Titles drawn directly from Proverbs 21 verse 20, which I spoke about in last week's sermon, which is the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord like the rivers of water. He turns it wherever he wishes. This is what we have in our text.

One of thousands of kings throughout history, in this way, like all other kings, his heart is in the hand of the Lord. God can just direct his heart like the course of a river wherever God wishes to direct it. So in the early portions of Ezra, We're going to be seeing this every week. The kings of the earth being governed by the God who gave them a life and who gave them their kingdoms. Verse 1 says that the heart of this king is stirred up by God.

God stirs him up to do a particular thing. He's called Cyrus the Great, but he's only great to men. He is the servant of God and God has stirred up his heart to do something specific to issue a proclamation. The proclamation puts the Jews, the captive Jews in Babylon, at liberty to return. He actually encourages them to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.

Verse 1 says that this proclamation goes throughout all his kingdom. One of these Sundays we'll bring out a map. You can see the immensity of the kingdom of Cyrus the Great. It's just an enormous amount of land covering many large countries of our modern world. And he puts it in writing, so there can be no mistaking the Proclamation of this King.

So it goes everywhere throughout all this immense kingdom, and he puts it in writing so there can't be any mistaking. So go to the text, let's pray. Lord God of heaven We worship you. You govern the affairs of men. We rest in you, knowing that you are almighty and that you are all-wise, that your arm is never too short to do the things that you desire to do, and that even the heart of the King is in your hand and you can direct it wherever you wish.

You are to be praised and worshiped. Oh, we bow down in our hearts before you now to worship such a great and almighty King, who is the King over all the kings of this earth. Come now and minister to your people. Help me to speak words that would be faithful. Help everyone here to hear and be helped by your word.

In Jesus' name, amen. So we only have three verses, but that's a considerable picking up of speed from last week, where we only had one verse. So we're going at breakneck speed through verses 2, 3, and 4 this week. And we'll just take them verse at a time. So beginning with verse 2, Cyrus and the command, let's read it together.

Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia, all the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me and he has commanded me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." In this verse, which begins the proclamation that Cyrus the Great gives throughout all his kingdom, in writing, Cyrus makes two acknowledgments. So I want to talk individually about each one of these acknowledgments. The first acknowledgment is this. Cyrus is what he is because of God, and he knows it. This is actually true of everyone, whether you know it or not.

You are what you are because of God Almighty. Some are shown that truth and own it and acknowledge it. Cyrus is among those who have been shown that truth and acknowledge it. Cyrus is what he is because of God. He says this, all the kingdoms of the earth, the Lord God of heaven has given me.

I'm king because God made me king. The kingdoms that I govern, I govern because God has given me those kingdoms. How can Cyrus say, all the kingdoms? 422 and in Daniel 519, Daniel is alive and in Babylon when Cyrus takes Babylon, Daniel has said of Nebuchadnezzar's dominion that it was to the end of the earth, and now Cyrus has dominion of that plus more. So it might be hyperbole that all the kingdoms of the earth had been given to him by God.

But it's very consistent with what Daniel has said of Nebuchadnezzar, whose kingdom Cyrus now governs. Cyrus says, I rule all this because God has given it to me. He's actually affirming what God said through the prophet Isaiah 140 years earlier. It's our recitation for the quarter, and we'll be reciting it 13 Sundays in a row. But I'll keep coming to it during the sermons as well because it's so breathtaking.

In Isaiah 45 verse 1, Isaiah had prophesied roughly 140 years earlier, thus says the Lord, To his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors so that the gates will not be shut." God actually said a hundred years earlier, a hundred and forty years earlier, God actually said, I'm going to take this man by the right hand and make him king to subdue nations before him and to loose the armor of kings. And now Cyrus comes and he's been given these kingdoms and he sees the hand of God in it and he says, he affirms 140 years later what God had said through the prophet Isaiah. He's agreeing with God and what God said through the prophet Isaiah. Six centuries later, Jesus will stand before Pontius Pilate, and he'll be silent when he is questioned by Pilate. In John 19 verses 10 and 11, Pilate will ask Jesus, Do you not know that I have power to crucify you and power to release you.

This is what Jesus says in response to that. You could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. The pilot says, I can kill you or I can release you. And Jesus says the only reason you have any power at all is because God has given it to you from heaven. Jesus is saying six centuries later what Cyrus the Great said at this time, at the time of the return from captivity, that authority is given from heaven.

Kings of the earth are given their kingdoms. This is a very Christian thing to say, isn't it? What Cyrus is saying in verse 2. I know we're pre-Christ. But it's so in accord with what Christ himself taught.

So it's a Christian thing of Cyrus the Great to say. He says, the Lord God of heaven. And you have to recognize, we're not speaking in Hebrew, but he's using the right words. He's saying Jehovah Elohim of heaven. So not pagan names.

He is using the right words for the one true God. And he has an understanding that the kingdoms have been given to him, that he's governing because kingdoms were given to him by God. Does this mean that Cyrus was saved? I have an opinion. You might have an opinion too.

That's all that they are because the text doesn't say. My opinion is, no, Cyrus isn't saved, even though he's using the right words. In Isaiah 45, this prophecy that calls out a Gentile king by name says, Cyrus, 140 years before the events of Ezra 1. In Isaiah 45 verse 4 and then in Isaiah 45 verse 5, it is said, and then said again, you have not known me. I named you even though you didn't know me.

I appointed you a task that you'll carry out even though you didn't know me. There's an archaeological artifact which you can go and see in the British Museum today. It's called the Cyrus Cylinder and it was excavated from Babylon. It's from the 6th century BC, right at this time, and it gives us all sorts of information about Cyrus the great, including his genealogy, decrees from that time. A couple of things we find out from the Cyrus Cylinder, which I would like to now go to the British Museum and see.

So if anybody wants to fund that expedition, see me after the service. One of the things that we find out from the Cyrus Cylinder is that what he's doing here with the Jews is not unique. He also set other peoples who were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar at liberty to return to their homelands and to resume the worship of their gods. He is using the right words, Jehovah Elohim of heaven, here, But what he's doing is not unique. He also did that for other peoples.

We also see on the Cyrus Cylinder that Cyrus the Great attributes victories to Marduk, who was the god of the Babylonians. He's definitely a Gentile king, and he's definitely a polytheistic thing, many gods, up to at least a certain point in his life. Now did God do something in the life of Cyrus the Great similar to what he did in the life of Nebuchadnezzar, where a Gentile polytheistic king like Nebuchadnezzar was shown that there is one true God. Maybe, but we don't have any evidence from the text or from history to suggest that. So my opinion is no, it doesn't mean that he's saved and he's not saved.

But it's not the point. You can make yourself crazy trying to know more than the text has given us. God has told us all we need to know, and he doesn't tell us whether Cyrus knows the true and living God or not. Cyrus isn't the main character of Ezra Wan. God, who is a promise-keeping God, is the main character of Ezra Wan.

Cyrus, whether he knows him or not, whether he wants to or not, whether he's aware of it or not, is carrying out The will of God, who intended after 70 years of captivity to send his people back to rebuild the promised land. God is the main character of Ezra 1. If he's not saved, how do you explain that he uses the right words, that he says things that are consistent with someone who knows the true and living God, like talking about free will offerings when we get to that in verse 4. Commentators suggest a couple of things. One is that this proclamation might be an answer to a petition by the Jews.

In other words, he had begun letting some people's, conquered peoples go back to their homelands. So the Jews petitioned him, and his proclamation reflects the request of the petition. That's possible. You don't know that from the text, but that could be. Or that he asked the Jews to collaborate with him on this proclamation.

You have to go outside of the Bible for all of that, but those things are possible. The point is that there is a covenant-keeping God, there is a promise-keeping God, and the time that he allotted for the people to be in captivity is over, and now he has stirred up the heart of a Gentile king to send his people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. So the first acknowledgement in Cyrus' proclamation is that Cyrus is what he is because of God. The second acknowledgement in this proclamation is that God has commanded Cyrus to build him a house in Jerusalem. God commanded him to do it.

God appointed him with this task of seeing that God had a house to be worshipped in in the promised land. Because of their persistent sin, because the people of Israel would not listen to prophet after prophet after prophet after prophet. We saw that in Jeremiah chapter 25 last week. All this again from verse Ezra 1 verse 1 is so that the things spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. Jeremiah speaks of all these prophets who were ignored by the people and They persisted in their sin.

So God judged them. God brought them under His discipline. And to the extent that the temple would be destroyed, Solomon's glorious temple is utterly destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. But God ought to be worshiped and God ought to be worshiped as he has prescribed. And at this time, under the laws that God gave through Moses, that requires a temple.

And so he will take measures to see the restoration of right worship, of prescribed worship. God does this all the time. He's always bringing his people back to the worship that he has prescribed, and so it is in Ezra 1, chapter 1. So after bringing discipline for the 70 years, the time that he had appointed, God is restoring the privileges of worship. So this is how God works.

In all times, under all covenants, God works this way. If you won't worship him in the way that he prescribed, He'll show you it's a privilege by removing it. If you will not worship Him, and you cultivate hypocrisy in your life, and you will not obey him, he'll pull back the privileges and he'll discipline you so that he can bring you back. He'll pull back the privileges and He'll deal with your hypocrisy so that you can be brought back to right worship. This is what God has done to His people.

God will do this in my life and in your life if we will not worship Him rightly. If we play the hypocrite and we live a double life, expect this, God will pull back the privileges of being His people so that he can deal with the hypocrisy in your life, he can make you feel the weight so that you'll repent, and then he restores you to right worship. He brings you back into the privileges and into the blessings of being his people. So in verse 2, the first verse of our text today, we have the two acknowledgements. The first, Cyrus is what he is because of God, and the second God has commanded Cyrus to build him a house in Jerusalem.

We should just be in awe that God showed this Gentile king exactly what he wanted him to do. Again, from last week, Josephus says, it was Daniel who put Isaiah 44 and 45 in front of this king. Daniel was in favor with all those kings. It could very well be so. Josephus says it was.

And then he showed him his own name from 140 years earlier and that Cyrus was just so influenced by that, It gave him a desire in his heart to fulfill that prophecy. Maybe that's how God stirred him up. We don't know. Now, verse 3. Ezra chapter 1, verse 3.

Who is among you of all his people? May his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build the house of the Lord of Israel. He is God which is in Jerusalem. In the New King James, he is God as in parentheses. There are several translations that say, the God which is in Jerusalem.

So they actually translate it in a way that would indicate the polytheism, the multigodism of Cyrus the Great. The translation can be either way. So, three might be an indication that he's not only a worshiper of the one true God. So, verse three, let him go. This is permission, this is encouragement, but this is not a commandment that they must all go.

There are no sanctions with the proclamation. So you're not in trouble If you don't leave Babylon immediately and return to Jerusalem to undertake this work, it's permission and encouragement. Cyrus asks, who is among you of all his people? And this is a proclamation that goes to the four corners of this great empire, and he's looking for those who went into captivity. Who is among you of all these people?

Who is among you of the Lord's people." It's a universal appeal and all are at liberty to return to Jerusalem for the purpose of rebuilding the temple. Cyrus pronounces a blessing. He says, may his God be with him. Cyrus understands that he has been commanded to do this, to build a house for the Lord at Jerusalem. And so He presumes that the blessing of God will be on those who undertake to do this.

His desire is that for every captive that goes back, God would be with him in the work. Cyrus puts all the captives at liberty to return for a purpose. This is one of the very key things in the text. It's not just you all can go home now. If that's all you get out of the proclamation, you've only skimmed the surface.

It is those who are willing go do this. You're at liberty to return to do this very specific thing. God liberates for his own glory. God sets these captives at liberty to go and worship for his own glory. So it was with the Israelites and the Exodus from Egypt, that's why he took this people in slavery and brought them out.

It was so that he would worship them. It was so that his name would be known as great. He laid low a mighty people, the Egyptians, and he brought out a weak people for the sake of his own great name. That's why he liberated them out of Egypt. So it is with the captives in and around Babylon.

He did it for the sake of his own great name. He did it for His glory and so it is with us. If you've been liberated, if you've been set free from the bondage of sin, it is for the name and the glory of God. And the glory of God. That's why.

1 Corinthians 6 verse 20, for you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. Christians you were bought at a price. Therefore, there is always a therefore when God sets captives free. The therefore is the sake of his great name, his glory. You were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's.

Ephesians 2, 8-10. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. This is the uniform teaching of Scripture that God sets captives free for the sake of his own great name, so that he would be lifted up and glorified by taking what was slave and making it into something glorious. Ultimately, I am not saved for me, me, me.

You are not saved for you, you, you. We are saved for God who is holy, holy, holy. So often we have a man-centered gospel. Jesus loves you. That is true.

Jesus loves His name. He glorifies His name. The Father glorifies Jesus and He glorifies His own name. That's why knees bow and tongues confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. So God stirring up the spirit of this Gentile King, whose heart is in God's hand, liberates a people to restore his worship.

He doesn't just say, you all can go home now. He says, those who are willing, go do this. So that God might be worshipped rightly. Verse 4. Verse 4.

Verse 4. I'm ahead of schedule. I'm sort of looking for what I missed. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the free will offerings for the house of God, which is in Jerusalem." which is in Jerusalem. So in verse 3 it was, let him go.

It's permission and encouragement for captive Jews to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. In verse 4, it's let him help and it's directed to those who don't go back to Jerusalem. If you're captive in Babylon, you don't have to go. But If you don't go, you're expected to help. Again, there are no sanctions.

This is free will. There are no sanctions for not helping. You're just expected to help. You're expected to participate in one way or the other, in going or in helping. I believe verse 4 is only referring to the Jews.

Some commentators, not many, some commentators take the view that it even includes everyone in the empire who is not a Jew. It doesn't read that way to me. It's possible. But in any event, it at least includes the Jews who stay. We know that they return, those who return, return in three waves.

So they don't all go back right after this proclamation, that much we know. Some commentators say it's just like Exodus 12, when the people of God are being freed from the captivity in Egypt, and they plunder the Egyptians. They ask for things on the way out, and the Egyptians send them out with a massive quantity of gold. It could be that. It doesn't read that way to me.

If you're in captivity in Babylon at this time, it is possible that your parents or even your grandparents were born there. It's been 70 years. So there's only a few people who return who were born in Israel. Not many. It can't be 70 years later.

It has to be a small number of those who go back. So Probably, for most of the people who were going to return from captivity, most of them, their parents were born in Babylon. So not only were they not born in Babylon, most of them, their parents would have been born in Babylon, and some of them, their grandparents were born in Babylon. So the roots are down deep in these communities where they're living. They're not commanded to go back, they're permitted to go back, they're encouraged to go back.

They can go, but they don't have to go. But they're expected to participate in one way or the other. Go or help. I've heard Paul Washer say this many times at the Great Commission. Either you go down into the well, or you hold the rope.

Either way, you end up with scars on your hands. He's saying the Great Commission requires something of all of the Lord's people, either going down into the well to take the gospel where it isn't or holding the rope. Having a connection with those who are going down into the well and paying a price for it. Either way you end up with scars on your hands. And I think that what he says there has a foundation in this text.

I think you can prove it from other places as well. But we see this in Cyrus the Great's proclamation. Either you go down into the well or you hold the rope, either way you have scars on your hands. This proclamation reminds me of two passages, one in the Old Testament, one in the New. The first passage Cyrus' proclamation reminds me of is Exodus 36.

It's like Exodus 36. In Exodus 36, all of the instructions have been given for the tabernacle and sacrificial worship. They haven't done it yet. They've just been given lots of detail about how to do it, what to make, who's to do what and when. In Exodus 36, Moses calls for free will offerings.

You don't have to. God has commanded us to do this and we need resources. So bring your free will offerings. So they bring. And the next day they bring.

And the next day they bring. And the next day they bring. And the artisans who are in charge of making sure that God's commandments are done and to implementing The plans come to Moses and say, we already have more than we need. We have sufficient resources and then some. We have an abundance.

And then the next day they bring, and then the next day they bring, and Then the next day they bring. Moses has to say, Stop bringing! Enough with the free will offerings. They are such an outpouring, such a desire to obey and to worship rightly, that they just keep bringing. This is how it should be with us.

A people who are happy to be free keep bringing and keep bringing. Why? Because they have to know these are free will offerings because they're happy to be free. It's fresh in their minds what it was like to live in captivity. So all that they have is available for the right worship of God who ought to be worshiped.

We should be a people in Exodus 36 who can't wait to give so that God might be worshipped. Are you like this? Is your home like this? I'm not just talking about the offering plate. If only it were that simple and easy, we could Just write a check and put it in the offering plate and say that we're like Exodus 36.

It's not that easy. There's more than money to be given. There's more than the local church to support. God actually wants our lives. He wants our hearts.

He wants us to live for him. He wants us to bring in a thousand different ways because he's worthy of glory. He wants a willing people who can't wait to give in every category of their life because they remember what it was like to be a captive people. When we are preoccupied with ourselves, something is wrong. Did you get that?

When we are preoccupied with ourselves, when we can't get the things of daily life out of our minds and we're just preoccupied. We have on the blinders and we can't see outside of them. It's all us and our little world. It's shrunken to only what's happening to me today. Something's wrong.

The people who remember what it was like to live in captivity, they're free and they're happy to be free. And they're preoccupied with their Redeemer, not with themselves. They're a preoccupied people. Alright. They're just not preoccupied with themselves.

Cyrus' proclamation reminds me of Exodus 36, this beautiful picture of a captive people who have been set free and who can't wait to give and have to be restrained. The second passage that Cyrus' proclamation reminds me of is Matthew 10. It's like Matthew 10. Please turn to Matthew 10. Please turn to Matthew 10.

Matthew 10 is the sending out of the twelve for the first time on a preaching missions trip. So they're preaching and they're healing and they're casting out demons. He sends them out two by two to do this. You don't get the two by two out of Matthew 10, you get that out of a parallel account. So if you're at Matthew 10, I'm going to back up and begin in 9 verse 35 to give the context.

Matthew 9, 35, then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, the harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." So what we have here is the context, which is that Jesus is essentially showing them how to do what he's about to send them to do. He's preaching, he's healing the sick, he's casting out demons.

And then he looks out on this multitude that are like a scattered people, like sheep without a shepherd, and he has compassion on them. And he tells the disciples, pray for laborers. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray that God will send more laborers into the harvest. And then in chapter 10, he sends laborers into the harvest.

So what are they doing? They're preaching. They're healing. They're casting out demons. This is about freedom from spiritual captivity.

So now we've shifted. In our Old Testament pictures in the Exodus from Egypt, in Ezra 1.1 and the return from captivity we're talking about a physical people returning from physical captivity. But in Jesus the pictures are fulfilled. The reality is more than our physical bodies and our physical circumstances, what we need is freedom from spiritual captivity. That's what Jesus came to do.

That's what's happening in Matthew chapter 10. Now look at Matthew chapter 10 verses 11 through 13. He's sending them out to preach, to heal, and to cast out demons. So how are they going to live when they're out there? Matthew chapter 10 verses 11 through 13.

Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy and stay there until you go out. When you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. The premise of this is that the people of God are already there where they're going, and essentially that God has sovereignly staged resources where the preachers are going to go.

Go into a town, see who's worthy, who is among the people of God there, who is willing to engage in the spread of the gospel there and stay there. If that proves to be true in this household, bless it. If it doesn't, leave and wipe off the dust. Now look at verses 40 through 41. We're fast forwarding many verses now, but it's still in chapter 10.

Matthew chapter 10, beginning in 40 through the end of the chapter. He who receives you, twelve disciples, receives me, Jesus. He who receives me receives him who sent me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.

Whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." is reward. This is about a powerful great condition partnership. This is about a powerful gospel partnership where some go and some help, but all participate. That is what Matthew 10 is. It's about God deploying all of His people to accomplish a singular mission.

The preaching of the Gospel to every corner of the earth. The discipling of the nations, baptizing converts, discipling them, teaching them to obey all things that Christ has commanded. It's a Great Commission partnership. It's a Gospel partnership. And it's a partnership that involves every one of the Lord's people.

Either you go or you help, but everybody participates. The Great Commission is great, not only because it's magnificent, and it is magnificent. That's not the only reason it's called the Great Commission. It's also called the Great Commission because it's massive. It's really, really big.

All sorts of resources are required. Money is required. Houses are required. Cars are required. Fifteen passenger vans are required.

Buildings are required. Training is required. So teachers are required. Prayer is required. Encouragement is required.

Imagine the Maxans leaving everything to go and minister and work and spend and be spent in Malawi. Imagine if no one encourages them. Imagine if they're out of sight so they're out of mind, so we don't pray for them, we don't encourage them. And we're a people with no scars on our hands. Shame on us if that's true.

Some go, some help, all participate in this massive commission from the mouth of our Lord. Everything in Matthew 10 is needed. Disciples to go and worthy homes. Homes where God is honored and all the resources are mobilized to help. Here's the conclusion.

Two points in the conclusion. Point number one. Put yourself in Babylon. You're a captive. Imagine the joy when you hear this proclamation.

You're somewhere in this great empire, and the Herald is sent to your town to proclaim what's been written down. The Proclamation from Cyrus of Great, you're free to go to rebuild the temple so that God might be worshiped as he has been prescribed. Imagine the joy. Actually, you don't have to. You don't have to imagine the joy at all if you're the Lord's.

Listen to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4, 16-21. Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as his custom was he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. When he had opened the book, he found the place where it is written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Then he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down and the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Ezra has some beautiful pictures. The captives going back to build a house of worship is a beautiful picture, it's just a picture. It's fulfilled in Christ and his people.

We are living stones being built up into a spiritual house where we offer spiritual sacrifices. We're built up on the chief cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have to imagine the joy of all those who heard the proclamation. It is fulfilled in our hearing. Jesus Christ has come to preach good tidings, to heal the brokenhearted, and to proclaim liberty to the captives.

Rejoice! These are the words of your resurrected Lord. It is a happy day to preach from Ezra. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead has bought us these things. All those who repent and believe the gospel though they have sinned against an all holy God will be cleansed from their sins because of the work of Jesus Christ.

He came to preach the good news and to heal the broken hearted and to proclaim liberty for the captive. Number two, finally, ask yourself this question, how can I reorder my life so that I can go or so that I can help in a way that's deeper and more profound than I've ever gone or helped before? How can I reorder my whole life so that I can go or help more than I ever have? How can you reorder your work life? How can you reorder your schedule, the schedule of your family?

Take out things that are less than this so that you can have more of this. How can you reorder your finances, maybe radically overhaul your finances so that you can either go or help? How can you reorder your priorities and the priorities of your family so that you can go or help? When will we be ready to send a family? When?

What's the date that Sovereign Redeemer Community Church will be ready to send a family, a whole family, Lots of kids to the four corners of the earth, one of the four corners of the earth. Who will go? Who will help? Why aren't we ready now? There's some good answers to that question.

Like we're a three-year-old church with not that many people. That's a pretty good answer to the question. There's some lousy answers to the question too. We probably serve ourselves too much. We probably spend too much money on ourselves.

We probably spend too much time and effort on our entertainments. We haven't made ourselves ready to either go or help. Have you heard the term, analysis paralysis? All you ever do is churn through the facts and plan. You never get to the actual doing of the thing.

You're frozen by fear or lack of resolve or something, and you're just going round and round and round, always planning and never doing. May it not be so of Sovereign Redeemer Community Church. May the day come where one of our families goes to the four corners of the earth for the glory of Jesus so that he might be worshiped. Maybe it will be my family, maybe it will be your family, maybe we will stay and help. But may God speed the day when we need to pray over this family and send them out.

God is worthy to be worshiped. Captives must be set free to worship him. That's what this text is about. Captives must be set free to worship him because he's worthy of all worship. God, I pray that you would help us to acquire the wisdom of these things, not just to enjoy the fascinating history of the text, but to see how it ought to apply among us.

I thank you that you have planted us here in this little community at a place nobody knows about. God, I pray that your name would be great here because you put us here. We would worship you with all of our hearts that we'd be a people who remember what it was like to be captive, what it was like to be proclaimed, our freedom proclaimed through Christ. And that we might reorder our lives so that we would go or that we would help with whatever resources are necessary so that you might be worshipped. Oh God, thank you for setting us free.

Now help us. Help us participate in the setting free of other captives in places that we don't even know exist today. May it be so in Jesus' name. Amen.