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But let's start there in Ezra, chapter 6, verse number 14. It says, And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Edu. So the title of the sermon tonight, brethren, is Prospered Through the Prophesying Prospered Through the Prophesying That's the title for the sermon tonight. So let's start there in verse number 1. And just to, I guess, let me bring to your remembrance what's took place. So in the previous chapter, we saw the two prophets here, Haggai and Zechariah, coming and preaching to the Jews. You know, encouraging them to get back into the work of the house of God. We've gone 14 years, we've had a change of king. And the Jews, they still just, you know, second year of Darius, they haven't started. You know, it should be obvious by now that they're waiting for the commandment from Artaxerxes, but he's dead. He's long gone. Okay, we've got Darius now, and they should just pick up the pace and continue the work. And, you know, it's been 14 years and, you know, praise God, they get encouraged by the preaching, they start working all over again. And now we continue that they've gone, and there are certain people that were concerned, they were concerned, hey, the Jews are building once again, they've stopped for 14 years, and they go to Darius, and they, Darius, check this out. You know, they're saying that they're following the decree that King Cyrus gave to rebuild the house of God as they returned back into the land. So let's continue there in verse number 1. Ezra 6 verse 1, it says, So, King Darius says, all right, let's check this out. The Jews are saying that Cyrus said they can build, so let's go and check if that is a true law that's been passed, a law that's been given by King Cyrus. And again, you know, you need to remember, remind yourself as we're going through this, that the Jews that are building the house of God, they're following protocol. They're following the orders of the authorities in the land. Even though these authorities are not Jewish authorities, even though these are not the kings of Israel, these are the kings of, this is the king of Persia, the kings of the Medes and the Persians that have taken over Assyria, they've taken over Babylon. And so it's a foreign power, and yet, you know, they are trying to do the work of God at the same time, keeping it within the restrictions and the boundaries that the government or the powers of that day have given them. Verse number two, and there was found at Akmetha, I believe that's the, I didn't look this up, but from memory, I believe that's the capital city of Persia, from memory, at that time. And it says, and the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a role, and therein was a record thus written. Or maybe it's the capital of the Medes. I think I might have that mistaken there. But anyway, they find this role. Look at, in verse number three. It says, in the first year of Cyrus the king, the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem. Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid, the height thereof free score cubits, and the breadth thereof free score cubits, with three rows of great stones and a row of new timber, and let the expenses be given out of the king's house. So we actually learn a little bit more about King Cyrus' decree. You know, we read about it in chapter one, but we don't get a lot of detail. As they go and reexamine what did Cyrus command, we get a little bit more information about the rebuilding of God's house. They definitely confirm that Cyrus definitely gave the commandment to build God's house. But I want you to notice how important it was that they built the house in the right way. You know, God gives us this information here, you know, let the house be builded, and it says there in verse number three, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid, the foundation be strongly laid, the height thereof free score cubits, breadth thereof free score cubits, with three rows of great stones, and they want a strong foundation, they want strong walls, and it says, and a row of new timber. And they said, look, don't worry about picking up the timber that's left over from the destruction of the temple. Let's not give them secondhand timber, timber that might be rotting, timber that might be eating up with termites, now let's give them brand new timber. What was the concern of building the house of God here? We see that it wasn't just building the house of God, they wanted to make sure that it's built with quality, okay? Quality. And when it comes to God's house, we ought to be concerned with the quality of God's house. You know, I would love this church to grow, and I do believe this church has the potential to grow in numbers, but I've got no control over that. One thing that I definitely want is the quality of this church to grow. For us to grow in immaturity, in knowledge, in zeal, in love for God. You know, God's house is not something that should be rushed. It's not something that we just, you know, should, you know, just not give much attention to. We need to put down the quality, have the foundation strongly laid. As it said there, and let the foundation thereof be strongly laid. No shortcuts, new timber, cut down the trees, build it and give it quality work. And when I think about the house of God here, we see that, again, that important principle, that the foundations thereof be strongly laid. You know, when we started blessing up at this church, we had to make sure that the foundations are strongly laid. You know, what do you mean by that? Well, you know, we teach doctrine. We want to make sure that we're right on doctrine, that we've got the right gospel, that we preach the right Jesus, that we have the right spirit. And you know what, our church has some fundamental doctrines of the faith, and we've laid these down as a church, and we said, look, from this day forward, these are the doctrines that this church will not change on. You know, this is what we believe as a church, and we want to carry forward believing those same fundamental truths of doctrine, that are laid down in the house of God. You know, you've got Psalm 11 verse 3 that says, If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? Brethren, the righteous need foundations. We've got the foundation of Jesus Christ. He's laid His life for us. You know, when we're saved, He is our foundation. He is our rock. As we keep following the words of Jesus Christ, it says that His words are the rock that we ought to build our house upon. And we have the foundations of Christ. We have the foundations of God's word. We have the foundation of the fundamental truths of our faith. And, brethren, we must stay true to that. Quality is important. There is no rush in building God's house. We just want to make sure that it's built in the right way, that it's strong, that it's firm, that it lasts for many years. You know, I would love nothing more for Blessed Hope Baptist Church to continue to till Jesus Christ comes back. Okay? I mean, that wasn't necessarily my responsibility. Right now, my purpose is to build God's house, to build Blessed Hope Baptist Church. I hope that one day I can hand over the church to other men, another man that will take over, you know, potentially be the pastor, etc., and continue on the work till Jesus Christ comes back. But, brethren, church is not something that we ought to rush. You know, let's be patient. You know, we've had periods of growth, and we've had periods of loss. You know, COVID's really messed things up for us. You know, I truly believe we will get into a point where, you know, when it comes to numbers of the church, that we almost needed a brand new building. In fact, if everybody that was interested in our church, that was, you know, attending on a regular basis, we wouldn't have enough room. We would not have enough room in this building. But it doesn't really matter. We're not in a rush. We're not in a rush. We're building one step at a time. Put the foundations down. Great zones, new timber. Let's build God's house together. Let's continue there in verse number five. It says, And also, let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple, which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple, which is at Jerusalem, every one to his place, and placed them in the house of God. Everyone to his place, and placed them in the house of God. Now, we're talking about the quality utensils and objects that were used for the service and the ministry of God's house. But I couldn't help but think, at the end of this sentence, everyone to his place, and placed him in the house of God. You know, the New Testament teaches us that the Lord God has placed us in a local church. You know, if you consider Blessed Our Baptist Church as your church, God has placed you here. You know, it wasn't, you know, my, you know, I'm not this kind of pastor that pressures people to be in church. You know, I don't go, you know, if I don't see you for a week or two, you know, I'm not ringing you up. Hey, brother, where are you? You know, what's going on? You got to be in God's house. I'm not that kind of person. You know, I leave that to God. You know, God is the one that builds his church. God is the one that sets people in God's house. He builds us. He places us. And, brethren, he has placed Blessed Our Baptist Church here in Fairfield East for his purpose. You know, if you want to be part of this church, you know, praise God for you. You know, God has led you to be part of this church, to be a member, but please understand that the work takes time. To build God's house, it takes effort, okay? And there can be interruptions. You know, these guys had the interruptions for 14 years. You know, we've had the interruptions of COVID. We've had interruptions of conflict within church, et cetera, et cetera. But we keep building. We keep building God's house. We don't stop. Let's keep going there. Verse number six. Now, therefore, Tatni, governor beyond the river, and Shefa, Bosni, and your companions, the Afrasaktites, which are beyond the river, be ye far from hence. He goes, look, stay away from the people of God. Stay away from the Jews. Don't stop them. Be ye far from hence. Let the work of this house of God alone. Leave them alone. Leave God's work alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in his place. And brethren, you know what? If we're building God's house, and we are, we're building Blessed Up Baptist Church. You know, we should not be people that try to hinder God's work. You know, anyone that tries to stop God's work, God says, let them alone. You know, don't get involved. Don't cause problems. Don't stop God's work. We're going to see as we keep going through this chapter that there was major loss if people got involved in trying to stop God's house from being built. Let's keep going there. Verse number 8. Moreover, I make a decree that what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God, that of the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expenses to be given unto these men, that they be not hindered. Not only stay away from them, but I'm going to make sure that as we collect taxes, this powerful Medo-Persian empire, as we're collecting taxes, we want to pay them. You know, the Jews, not only do they get the benefit of going back to their land, but going back to their cities, going back to their houses, establishing the house of God once again, now they're getting paid by the Medo-Persian empire. I mean, you can see how God's hand is leading them. You can see how God is blessing them as they set their minds and hearts to continue working in God's house. So they receive payment for their work from the taxes that the Persian empire has collected. Verse number 9. And that which they have need of, both young bullocks and rams and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day, without fail, that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and of his sons. Isn't that interesting? King Darius says, man, we're going to give them everything they need. You know, all the cattle they need to offer sacrifices, you know, we're going to make sure that as an empire we give them everything they need. You know, the Babylonian empire took everything from them and they've got the Medo-Persian empire giving it all back so they can build God's house. And again, you see God's hand here. But I want you to notice how verse number 10 ends, the king. King Darius says, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons. He says, look, not only do I want them to build God's house, but once they're done, can you please pray for me? Can you please pray for my children? Pray for my family? Of course, his sons would also be people that would be involved in the political realm of things in that government. And you know, when I thought about this verse, I merely brought to mind once again, if you can please keep your finger there and go to 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. Brother Tim, is this your water? No, I thought it was yours. Okay, I've got two. That's all right. 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse number 1. Just as a reminder, just as a reminder to us all, okay, in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse number 1, which reads, Hey, the king and his sons. He says, look, can you please pray for me? You know what? We're commanded. This is God's house, brethren. We are commanded. We have been exhorted. We've been encouraged to pray for all of those in authority. Even the people we don't like, brethren. Even our premiers. Even our prime ministers. Even our politicians. God says, pray for them. And so hard, isn't it? You know, these politicians have made our life hard for the last two years. They've made it hard to travel. They've made it hard to have church services. They've made it hard for us to do God's work even. It's very clear. I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplication, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. And please remember, as this has been written to Pastor Timothy from the Apostle Paul, that they are under Roman Empire control. They, too, are dealing with a massive empire. The Israelites, they don't have their own rule. They've been governed by foreign power. They've been governed by wicked governments. I mean, no one turns around and says that the Roman Empire was a godly empire. We all know they were full of idolatry. We know they were full of homosexuality. We know they were wicked. We know they worshipped false gods. And yet, Timothy has been encouraged as a pastor to pray for kings. Verse number two, for kings. And all that are in authority. Why? That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. When you want to do something that is good and acceptable in God's sight, start praying for your prime minister. Start praying for Scott Morrison. Start praying for, what's our premier's name? Perot tape. Perot tape. Premier Perot tape. Start praying for them. I don't want to either. You know what? The Christian life isn't, I do what I want. The Christian life is do what God says to do. Do what the Bible says. Pray for the kings. Pray for those in authority. Ask God that God will shine the light of the truth in their hearts. That they would allow us to live peaceably. That they would not get in the way of God's people. That they would not pass laws that are contrary to God. That they would! Hey, help churches! Help the house of God! You know the King Darius was helping the building of God's house. How wonderful would it be if they passed laws or orders to actually help God's house? What a beautiful thing that would be! Okay? I'd rather them just leave me alone, actually. I don't know, if they help too much, I don't know. I'll be wondering, you know, what strings are attached to this, you know? But hey, you know what? We are commanded to pray. And, you know, this has been the great teaching, I guess, of my time down here in Sydney. Is governments have their place. And even though they're wicked, even though they're ungodly. You know what? There's still a power that God has put into place. God still wants us to be obedient to that power, while at the same time not being contradictive to what God commands of us. You know, it's that interesting place for us as Christians. We know that we're sojourners, we know that we're pilgrims, we know that we're not of this world. We know that this kingdom of these earths are not the kingdoms of Christ. And we are to live here, and we're to function, and we're to do well, and we're to be a blessing, and we're to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And somehow be under the authority of the governments that God allows, and at the same time have God as our highest authority. It's a challenge. It's a challenge, isn't it? But this is what's commanded of. And you can see that this King Darius is asking, Hey guys, can you pray for me? Pray for my sons. You know what? We are a wicked empire. We do have an empire that worships false gods, but I still need you to pray for me. Back to Ezra chapter 6 and verse number 11, please. Ezra chapter 6 and verse number 11. It says, Also I have made a decree. What else does it say? That whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon, and let his house be made a dunghill for this. And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people that shall put to their hand and alter and to destroy this house of God, which is our Jerusalem. I, Darius, have made a decree, let it be done with speed. Now I warned you a little bit earlier about those that try to stop the work of God. Those that try to stop God's house, the local New Testament church, from serving God. You see what King Darius says here, verse number 11. He makes a decree that if anyone tries to stop them, anyone tries to cause problem, he says, you know what, we're going to destroy his own house. We're going to pull the timber from his own house, and we're going to hang him with that same timber. We're going to let his house become a dunghill. You know what, praise God. Yes, Lord. You know, that's right. You know, that's, you know, I want that today. I want that for Blessed Old Baptist Church. I want that for New Life Baptist Church. I want that for every house of God that is righteous. That it is definitely a true church of Jesus Christ. That if anyone tries to stop the work, that God would hang them from their own timber of their own house. That God would stop these wicked people that try to stop God's work from being done. I also love what he says in verse number 12. Not just individual people, but he says in that God of course is named to do all that destroy all kings and people. Anyone in authority. Any other kings of any other nation. If they try to stop the Jews from building God's house, let God destroy them. You know, and he's asking God, God destroy these people. Right? So brethren, as we pray for our kings, as we pray for those in authority, again we're praying that they would allow us to live quiet and peaceable lives. And then what else do we learn? Yes, let's pray. You know, pray that God, that they would have fear of God in their hearts. Pray that they would pass laws that line up with God's word. But at the same time God, if any of these in authority are your enemies, if any of these people in authority are trying to hurt God's people, if any of these in authority is trying to stop your work, God please destroy them. Please remove them from office. Please wipe them out if you have to, Lord. I believe that's what happens to Premier Gladys. Premier Gladys, Berygicalion, she got removed out of office. Okay? Now, I do think Perotay right now is a better Premier. I'm not saying he's perfect, but you know, in under Gladys there was a lot more restrictions. There was a lot more control, you know? And while we do pray for our kings, you know, we're praying that they would do that which is right. That's the whole point behind it. And if they're doing that which is wrong, then pray that God will destroy them. Pray that God would end them. Pray that God will remove them from office. Pray that God will disgrace them. And there are many politicians that have been disgraced. Many people in power that have been disgraced. Think of, what's that guy in England? Prince Andrew, is it? Prince Andrew, you know, being disgraced, you know, by the entire nation for his, you know, fornication, adultery, fornication, I know what he's doing, right? Sleeping around with teenage girls in his past and now all of that's coming out, you know? Being disgraced and that's the right thing to do. Yes, pray for our kings. Pray that God will bless them when they do that which is righteous. Pray that God will curse them when they do that which is wicked. And so we have that warning. And look, don't forget what God's house is. You know, I know that we individually, we put a lot of effort in. You know, I come and I'm traveling and I'm preaching and you guys are song leading and preaching as well when needed. But don't forget that, you know, this isn't the work of man. You know, this is God's house. And please turn with me, actually no, you don't need to turn there. I'll quickly read to you from Matthew 16 verse 18. Jesus Christ talks to Peter and he says, And I say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Who builds the church? Who builds Jesus Christ's church? Jesus builds his church. He says, I will build my church. What's the problem brethren? If people get in the way of God's house and God's work, you're not just coming against, you know, people that love Jesus. You're coming up against Jesus himself who is building God's house, who is building blessed up at this church. It's all down to Jesus Christ. Why would you turn around and try to stop God's work? You're going against Jesus Christ. The church is called the body of Christ. You attack God's house, you are attacking the body of Christ. Christ says he's going to build the church. The other thing that I'm reminded here, you know, when they said that those that try to stop God's work, that they're going to be hanged by the wood of their own house, it just reminds me of Judas Iscariot. Let me just quickly read to you. Matthew 27 verse 3, Then Judas, which had betrayed him, betrayed Jesus obviously, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed and went and hanged himself. Again, what is this house of God in the New Testament? The local church. The local church is the body of Christ. You know what, Judas actually went and betrayed Jesus Christ. He went and betrayed him, what's his end? Being hung. You know what, I'd say if there's anyone listening today that's an enemy to this church, that wants to hurt this church, be careful. Be careful. You try to stop this place, you will be hung. One way or another. God's going to make sure that judgment falls upon you, and hurts you, and puts you to shame. I'm not talking about literal hanging necessarily, but God will wipe you out if you try to attack God's house and God's people. Back to Ezra chapter 6, verse number 13. Ezra chapter 6 and verse number 13. Then Tatni, governor of this side of the river, Shethar, Bosni, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so did they speedily. And notice in verse number 14, this is where we get the title for the sermon. And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying, and remember, prophesying isn't necessarily just telling the future, though many prophets don't tell the future, prophesying is to proclaim God's word. They are preaching, okay? Through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Edu, and they builded and finished it, according to the commandments of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia. Notice that again. Notice that the Bible keeps bringing this up. Are they doing God's work? Yes, they are. They are following the commandment of the God of Israel. And according to the commandment of Cyrus and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia. Hey, are they following the governments of the day, the powers of the day? They are. They're trying to be obedient to God, and obedient to the powers over them at the same time. That's the challenge. That's the challenge, all right? And we, you know, if your heart is, well, just obey the government, and forget about God. Even though the government, it might be contrary to God, just obey the government. You're going to have problems as a Christian. If you take the view, well, I just follow God, and I don't care what man says, I don't care what any power says over me, you're going to get problems as well. The challenge of the Christian life is balancing both of these things. They are following God's commandments, and even Artaxerxes is brought up here, okay? He's the one that actually stopped them from building. But why? They were obedient to Artaxerxes, okay? They follow the commandment of God, and according to the commandment of the kings that were in power over Persia, all right? But the point that I want to bring out of here in verse number 14, it says then, the elders just builded, so I want you to think about that, builded and prospered. Why do they build and why do they prosper? Through the prophesying, the preaching of Haggai and Zechariah. And this is, and they builded and finished it. Builded and finished it. So they were being encouraged, they were being motivated, all right, by the preaching of Haggai, by the preaching of Zechariah. And we come to God's house to hear preaching, okay? That we would be builded, that we would prosper, that we would finish the work that God has given us. This is the purpose of preaching, to prosper other people. You know, I don't come behind this pulpit to necessarily prosper myself. Though I do prosper, I do prosper from the study, I prosper even from the preaching, even from preaching, because I'm preaching to myself, okay? I prosper because I know that God is blessed. I know that God will reward. I know God will look down favorably when we follow the words that God has instructed us to do, right? But the purpose of preaching is that we will be builded, that we would prosper and that we would finish, okay? That's the purpose of preaching. And for the men that will stand behind this pulpit to preach to God's people, don't forget that. Don't forget you're here to help others, to help others understand what God requires from them. Keep your finger there and please go to Jeremiah chapter 1. Jeremiah chapter 1. Jeremiah chapter 1. And obviously we've gone through the chapters in the book of Jeremiah. And I want to remind you what it says here in Jeremiah chapter 1 as God calls Jeremiah to do this great work to be a prophet to Judah and a prophet to the nations. He says in Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 10, See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, look at this, to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant. You see, sometimes in order to build you up in the faith, to build is to edify, to strengthen, to help you mature and grow. You know, it's not just building, it's not just edifying, it's also pulling down, it's also destroying, it's also throwing down so then you can start building all over again. Brethren, when they builded the new temple, they had to make a clearing, they had to make space for the temple. Whatever was destroyed of the old temple, they had to put that away and start all over again. Brethren, the purpose of preaching is to build. But sometimes in order to build and sometimes in order to edify, we must also pull down, root out, pluck down, throw down, destroy. You know, many times in order to preach the truth of God's word, we have to preach against false doctrine. Many times to preach on holiness, to live godly, we must preach against sin. And sometimes when we preach against sin and the wickedness of this word, it can step on your toes, it can embarrass you. You may sometimes get offended by the preaching of God's word, but it is necessary in order for you to be builded up. The purpose to cast down, the purpose to preach against sin and preach against wickedness is that you will then be able to be built up and planted up. That is the work of the preacher, to build, to build the people up. You know, the Bible also says in, actually can you please turn to 1 Timothy? Actually while, go to 2 Timothy, you might as well go to both of these references. Go to 2 Timothy 4 please, 2 Timothy 4 and verse number 2. 2 Timothy 4 and verse number 2. Again we get the idea of preaching God's word here in 2 Timothy 4 verse number 2 which says, Preach the word. Yeah, that's what we're commanded to do brethren. I'm here to preach the word. I'm not here to preach a commentary. Yeah? We're not here to preach the books of psychologists. We're not here to preach even the great knowledge of Kevin Sepulveda. We're not here to do that brethren. We're here to preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season. Look at this. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. We're here to preach doctrine. We're here to preach, doctrine is the word teaching. To teach what is right in accordance to God's word. But again notice what it said. Reprove, rebuke. These are words of correction. This is preaching against your sin. This is making you uncomfortable sometimes in order that you then be exhorted, that you'd be built up, that you'd be motivated with all longsuffering and doctrine. That's why we come to God's house, brethren. You know, there's nothing that I can teach that you can't necessarily learn by yourself. You know the Holy Spirit that indwells me is the same Holy Spirit that indwells you. Anything that the Holy Spirit is able to teach me, he's able to teach you yes, in the privacy of your own home. But the advantage of coming to church, you come listening to someone that has prepared. Someone that has studied. Maybe someone, ideally if it's a pastor, someone that has been saved for a long time. Someone that has experience in the Christian life. They can add some layers and some depth to the teaching that comes from God's word. Yes you can learn all these things, but how likely are you? For me to prepare a sermon, it takes me many hours. I can't even tell you exactly what it takes. I'd say at least six hours, eight hours maybe. Not necessarily the time it takes for me to put it down on paper or type it up, but through the week I'm thinking about things. Through the week I'm reading a passage. And through the week I'm comparing scripture. My daughter actually, as I was putting my jacket on and my tie on, Isabel walks past and goes, oh dad, you're doing that again. I'm like, what? She saw me mumbling with my mouth. What am I doing? I'm preaching. I'm preparing to preach. I'm looking in the mirror, I'm putting on my jacket, and I'm already preaching what I'm going to preach tonight. A lot of preparation just happens here, and sometimes my family sees it on my face because I'm practicing the preaching, right? Silently though, silently. I'm thinking, how do I word this? How do I explain that? The preparation time. How likely, yes you can learn the same things, but how likely are you as an individual going to spend the same type of hours, the same dedication, the same time of meditation upon the passages? This is why you come to God's house. Because God has appointed someone to present God's word, to preach God's word, to reprove, to rebuke, to exhort, to build you up. That you will grow in knowledge, that you will grow in maturity for the Lord Jesus Christ. Please go now to 1 Timothy. You're there in 2 Timothy. Please go to the previous book. 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse number 3. 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse number 3. And let me remind those that are preaching. Those that we've been preaching. This is so important. We saw, preach the word. That's what I want you to do. Just preach the word. People come to church to hear God's word preached. Well at least people come to Blessed Hope Baptist Church to hear God's word preached. If you want the wisdom of man, go listen to Joel Osteen or whatever. We come to this church to hear God's word. And let this be a reminder here in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 3. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, the down miners charged some that they teach no other doctrine. We're commanded to teach doctrine, but doctrine that comes from God's word. Not doctrine that comes from other sources. That's not what we're here to do. I'm not here to preach what I found out on YouTube. I'm not here to preach what I saw on Bitchute. What are some other channels? I don't know. Odyssey. I don't know. What did I find on the internet? I read the book of Enoch. I'm going to preach on that. I found out some conspiracy. I better come and preach about that conspiracy theory right now. That's not what we're commanded to do, brethren. No other doctrine. Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions. Rather than godly edifying, which is in faith, so do. Godly edifying. That building up once again. To build, to edify. Edifice is the building. In Spanish, edificio is the word building. To build, to edify, it's the same idea. Godly edifying which is in faith. What is it saying? That if we preach fables, we preach other doctrines, we preach endless genealogies, brethren, we're not edifying the brethren. That's what it's saying. Please don't go to the junk of the internet world and get your doctrines and your ideas and your teaching from there. It's going to corrupt your mind and you won't be preaching God's word. And you won't build a house of God. You might sound very wise. Look at all the information I've gathered. It's not going to help anyone. We've been born again. We've got a new man. We've got the spirit of God that dwells in us. We've been born again in the spirit. That spirit needs the nourishment of God's word. We're to live daily on God's word, not on other stupid things that are out there in the world. So please be careful when you preach. Preach God's word. So we saw that they benefited as they were building God's house. They continued to build and they were encouraged by the preaching of the preachers there. To build but also to prosper. Can you please go to 3 John? Please go to 3 John toward the end of your Bible. 3 John. And I'm going to read to you from the book of John. You go to 3 John. I'm going to read to you from the book of John. The next thing that we saw there was to build but also to prosper. And Brethren, I don't want to just build you up but I actually want you to prosper. The prosperity gospel. No, not really. But I just want you to do well in life. Brethren, let me promise you this. Just from my own testimony, if you do things God's way, you'll be fine. You will do well in life. You're going to do better than the average person if you just do it God's way. It's the truth, Brethren. I mean, I wanted three kids. I never got three kids. God never gave me three kids. We had one, we had two, then four. God didn't give me what I wanted. In fact, my wife was told she'd never be able to have kids. And I was fine with that. As a young man, who cares? I have a good time. Me and my wife, kids take up time and effort. We don't have kids, we're so big. That's what I thought. But listen, we do things God's way. God's given us 11 kids. And let me tell you, I'm prospering. It's fantastic. It's the best thing ever. But it's a lot of work. Yes it is, but it's fun. It's a blessing. It's an enjoyment. Because God's way is always the best way. It doesn't matter what ship of thoughts you might have in life. Just do it God's way and you'll find that it's better. You prosper in life. You do better. You're there in 3 John. I'm going to read to you from John 10. John 10. It says, The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy, Then Jesus Christ says, I am come, that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. See, not only did Christ come to give us life, eternal life, to save us from hell, to save us from sin. Yes, that's wonderful. But he's also come to give us life, a more abundant life. A prosperous life. A happy life. A joyful life. But brethren, you've got to follow what Christ commands of us. You know, walk in his paths. Do what he says. Yeah, you know doctrine. I know this church knows doctrine. But are you doing the doctrine that you learn? Don't be a hero only, but a doer of God's word. You're there in 3 John, look at verse number 2. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth. Yes, our soul can prosper. Our health can prosper. But we want to be able to prosper in all areas of our life. That's the wish of John. That's my wish for you, brethren. You know, we teach God's word that we cannot just be built it up, but then we'd prosper. That we'd profit. That we would see that living the life that Christ has left us to live is the best life that we can live. Your best life now, Nama. I'm not teaching that. But yes, you know what? It is the best life if you follow God's ways. Your ideas and your thoughts, I don't know man, I know God wants this, but it's not really what I want. Let's do it another way. Look, just submit yourself to the Lord. Just say, Lord, I don't see the benefit of that, whatever it is that's on your mind, and say, well, I'm just going to do it your way, Lord. I promise you, you will do well. You will prosper. You will be blessed above measure than you have ever realized, okay? So we saw that the preachers were there to help them build, the preachers were there to help them prosper, but also to finish, and they finished the building of God's house, but to finish. Please go to 2 Timothy 4. 2 Timothy 4 and verse number 6. 2 Timothy 4 verse number 6. To finish. I want you to finish well, brethren. 2 Timothy 4 verse number 6, it says, For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. The apostle Paul says, look, I finished well, I ran the race, I got to the finish line, my time of departure is at hand, he knows he's going to pass on and soon be with the Lord. Brethren, not only do I want to build you up, not only do I want you to prosper, you know, but as I preach God's word, and as people come behind this pulpit to preach God's word, it's that you would finish well. You know, that you wouldn't just have this spiritual high one day, and then the next year you'll be on some spiritual low. Or that next year you're far from God, or next year you're not in church and you're not reading your Bible. Brethren, we need to keep running the race. We want to finish the race, we want to finish well. That's why you need to be in God's house. You know, if you neglect God's house, you neglect the preaching of God's word, you're not going to be built up, you're not going to prosper, and you're not going to finish. You're not going to finish the way God wants you to finish. Okay, it keeps going there, verse number 8, Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. So if you finish the course, brethren, there are rewards. God promises us to reward us, Christ wants to give us rewards, we live righteously, we do the works, you know, we serve him with our hearts and with our minds, brethren, we love the Lord and we love the brethren, and he'll reward us. He's going to give us great treasures in heaven. And again, I don't know what those treasures really are. You know, a crown of righteousness. But I don't really need to know. All I know is, when I'm in heaven, I'm going to wish that I had more rewards. When I'm in heaven, I'm going to wish that I did more for the Lord Jesus Christ, that I would have greater treasures in heaven. That's what I know. So let's get busy now. Let's say, hey, you know what, we're going to finish. We're going to build ourselves up, we're going to prosper as we learn God's word, and then we're going to finish. Whatever the last day of my life is, I'm going to make sure that I finish and I remain faithful to the Lord, because I want to earn the maximum rewards that Jesus Christ has for me. Hey, that's the purpose of preaching. When Haggai and Zechariah were motivating the people of God, they were motivating them to continue building, and that the work would prosper, and they would finish the work of building God's house. Back to Ezra chapter 6 and verse number 15. It says, Now, for those that have been paying attention to the time frames and all that, I don't know if you remember, but who can figure out how long it took them to finish God's house, based on what we just read there? Let's read it again. Which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. Four years. Four years, okay. Why four years? We'll just go back to Ezra chapter 4 quickly. Ezra chapter 4 verse 24. Ezra chapter 4 verse 24, it says, By the way, they were kind of working about two years, and then they ceased, they stopped. So overall, it's probably about six years altogether, building God's house here. But it says, So until the second year. So they started building again in the second year, and they finished on the sixth year of his reign, which is where the four years comes from. So good job, Matthias there. Four years to complete the temple. Now, the kind of thing about that, well, you know, we're in our fourth year of Blessed Up Baptist Church, you know. And look, every house of God is different, you know. They had major interruptions, we've had some interruptions, but nothing as much as they did, you know. But the point is, you know, building God's house is not this simple thing. There are going to be challenges that come. There are going to be stoppages. There are going to be adversaries that try to stop God's word, God's work, sorry. But, you know, it takes time. Once again, we don't see this rush. We just see them working hard, prospering, being built up. They finish God's house. And again, I want to remind you guys that my heart is that we would finish Blessed Up Baptist Church. You know, I will do whatever I can to help this church get to that finish line. You say, what is that finish line? For me, once again, it's that we would have a full-time pastor in place, that we would go to our, you know, free services a week as the standard, that we would be out actively soloing every week and, you know, we are. But, you know, that we would have all these things together and that I would be able to hand over to someone else and they would take over and keep pushing this church forward. At that point, I would say at least my hand of the house of God here has been finished, you know. And that's my heart. You know, I want you to know, even though I'm returning back to Queensland, you know, I still want to see this church prosper. I want to see this church grow. I want this church to finish. I want this church to one day have its own full-time pastor. Let's keep going to verse number 16. It says, And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy and offered at the dedication of this house of God and 100 bullocks, 200 rams. Hey, we got one ram? One rams. Amen for our rams and brother rams and they had 200 rams. Okay, I guess they were doing better than us, right? Four hundred lambs and for a sin offering for all Israel, 12 he goats according to the number of the tribes of Israel. I like verse number 18. It says, And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their courses for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. So the priests, one of the priests, are the ones that would be offering the sacrifices, but the rest of the Levites, they still worked in the house of God. They still had their courses, all right? I guess they had, like, we would call it rusted work. You know, maybe a man would come and be rusted for a week working in the house of God, you know, cleaning or tidying up and making sure the resources are there and they do their course and then they have a break for a while and then they have their own course once again. They come back to work and, you know, what we see here, the priests and the Levites basically getting organized in the house of God, the work that they were doing. Now, we're not Levites, but we are called priests, kings and priests. We are a royal priesthood of the New Testament and the thought that I get here, brethren, is, you know, we also have our divisions, we also have our courses. You also have your ability to work and serve in God's house. Romans chapter 12 verse 4 says, For as we have many members in one body and all members have not the same office, so we being many are one body in Christ and everyone members of another. Brethren, we're members of another. This is the body of Christ. We make up the body of Christ. We have our own abilities. We have our own ability to serve one another in the house of God. And again, let me encourage you as I start planning to return back to Queensland that you start to think, how can I serve? How can I help? What area? Look, I don't have the answer. You don't have to necessarily come to me. What can I do? You know, you find why God's put you here. Find in what sense can you serve? You know, is it just to motivate? Is it just to love the brethren, to pray for the brethren, to encourage the brethren? Hey, that's a gift that God does give certain people. You know, we have different abilities. And I want you to think about how can I serve in the house of God? Verse number 19, And the children of the captivity kept the passover until the fourteenth day of the first month. For the priests and the Levites were purified together. All of them were pure. So you may recall that in order to serve in the house of God, they had to go through ritual washings and be pure, purified together. And of course those washings would represent their spiritual being. It wasn't just to wash on the outside, but they would be cleansed on the inside because they would basically be represented in Jesus Christ. We know Jesus Christ was pure. All of them were pure and killed the passover for all the children of the captivity and for their brethren, the priests, and for themselves. And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity and all such as had this separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land to seek the Lord God of Israel did eat. So not only were the Levites and the priests purified, but also the others that came to eat of the passover, they also made sure they separated themselves from the filthiness of the heathen. They came with purified hearts. They came serving the Lord, putting him first in their life, you know, doing their best to live that holy and clean life. And they would come to the house of God and eat together of the passover. Verse number 22. And kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. To strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God. You know, we need God strengthening. You know, we are here to serve one another, we are here to serve in the house of God, but we need the strengthening of our hands to be able to accomplish that. But I want you to notice that the strengthening that came from God, they first, what did they first do? They cleansed themselves, they purified themselves, they separated themselves from the filthiness of the heathen of the land. And brethren, that is our responsibility. The Bible says in 1 John 3 verse 2, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. This is in verse number 3. And every man that have this hope in him, purify himself even as he is pure. Yes, you know, not only did they purify themselves and cleanse themselves, brethren, but we are to cleanse ourselves as well. We know that one day we're going to have those new resurrected bodies, we're going to be like him. And what did the Bible say there? For we shall, sorry, and even as he is pure, Jesus Christ is pure, brethren. One day we're going to be pure as well. One day we're going to have those new resurrected bodies that can never sin. But it's not just about waiting for that. As I said there earlier, and every man that have this hope in him, purify himself. Not only should we wait for the purified new resurrected body, but we should live in this life purifying ourselves. Brethren, if you want to do a great thing for God, if you want to be strengthened by God, if you want Blessed Old Baptist Church to continue serving the Lord till he comes back, brethren, we must purify ourselves. We must separate ourselves from the filthiness of this world. And that's the constant challenge that we always have. This flesh wants to do the filthiness of this world. But God wants us to be cleansed. And if we cleanse ourself, God can do a great work through us and through Blessed Old Baptist Church. So, brethren, I hope that's an encouragement for you. Please find where you can serve. Please figure out how you can serve in God's house. Hey, also, start cleaning up your life. We all have sins. I'm sure there are some sins that you have that you just put up with. No, brethren, it's not good enough. Learn to overcome them. Be strengthened by God. Seek God's help in overcoming the sins in your life so you can do a great work for him. Okay, brethren, let's pray.