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Back to Ezra chapter 8, and look at verse number 23, please. It says, So we fasted and besought our God for this. The title for the sermon tonight is Fasted and Besought Our God. Fasted and Besought Our God. Now, what's, you know, I don't use the word coincidence because God's hand is involved in the working of this church and the leading of this church. But I had intended for some time to organize a fast today, this Thursday. Even before I announced it, I had it online for several weeks before that. And I didn't really consider the book of Ezra. And one amazing truth that we find when we get to Ezra chapter 8, which is what we're up to, is that the people of Ezra, Ezra and the people that are coming with him to Jerusalem, they're fasting together. They're seeking the Lord. And so I think it's not a coincidence, but it's definitely the leading of God to teach us about fasting, why it's important. And I hope that several of you are participating in that tonight. But let's start there in verse number 1. Ezra chapter 8, verse number 1, it says, These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king. And so of course when it says they went up with me, don't forget the book is called the book of Ezra for a reason. This is Ezra speaking. You may recall back in chapter 7, we got introduced to Ezra, and King Artaxerxes has given Ezra the permission to go and to return back to Jerusalem with, you know, this is basically the second mass exodus out of Babylon or the Persian Empire. And yeah, they're coming along with Ezra. Ezra is the one that's organizing them, that he's the main leader in this second exodus out of Babylon. Now what we're going to read in the next verses, verses number 2 to 14, of course, is the genealogy of the people that are coming along with him. And so, you know, I'm just going to read to you verses 2 to 14 just in one hit, and then I'll explain to you what's going on here. Verse number 2, Of the sons of Phinehas, Gershom, and the sons of Ithamar, Daniel, and the sons of David, Hattush, and the sons of Shekiniah, the sons of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males, and hundred and fifty. Now it says, And of the sons of Pahoth, Moab, Eli, Honi, and the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males. Notice that as we keep going through this, we're going to start to number the men of these families, okay? So you saw there just recently, verse number 4, two hundred males. We'll keep going there, verse number 5. And the sons of Shekiniah, the sons of Jehaziel, and with him three hundred males. So we're not counting the women and the children here, we're just talking about grown men in this passage, verse number 6. And the sons of Adon, Ebe, the sons of Jonathan, and with him fifty males. And of the sons of Elam, Jeshahiah, and the sons of Ataliah, and with him seventy males. And the sons of Shepatiah, Zebediah, and the sons of Michael, with him four school males. And the sons of Joab, Obadiah, the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males. And of the sons of Shelomith, and the son of Josapiah, and with him a hundred and three school males. And the sons of Bibi, Zechariah, the son of Bibi, and with him twenty and eight males. And the sons of Asgard, Johanan, and the sons of Hakatan, and with him a hundred and ten males. And of the last sons of Adonakam, whose names are these, Eliphalet, Jehiel, and Shemaiah, and with them three school males. And the sons also of Bigvai, Utai, and Zebed, with them seventy males. All right, so you saw these are the families that are coming, and the men, the grown men, are all numbered here. And if you just total up, we don't have time to go through it today, okay, but if you total it all up, it would come to a total of one thousand four hundred and ninety six men that are going on this journey. You know, just shy of one thousand five hundred. Let's just round it up to one thousand five hundred, because it's so close, right? One thousand four hundred and ninety six men. Of course, this does not include their wives, or, you know, if they're married, their children, all right? So, if we just consider the number here, let's, again, we just round it up to one thousand five hundred men, then we could say there should be, you know, because the population is generally fifty percent male, fifty percent female, we should say that there's definitely at least one thousand five hundred women, especially if these are grown men married. And for those that are family, if we just average that every family here had two children, and of course, I'm sure they had many more than two children, you know, there'll be some that are not married, so just for a rough figure, right? Obviously, there are going to be people that have five kids, eight kids, ten kids, right? There's all a different variety, but if all these men and women were married and they had two kids each, that would be three thousand, like each family would have two kids each, that would be three thousand kids. So, you got one thousand five hundred men, one thousand five hundred women, three thousand kids. We're easily looking at about six thousand people making this journey with Ezra. And then what happens? Verse number fifteen, it says, And I gathered them together to the river that run off to Ahava, and there abode we intense three days. And I viewed the people and the priests, and found there were none of the sons of Levi. And so, it takes three days for them to gather all together. They're all leaving from different provinces of Babylon, and, you know, they're coming to this river, and they're gathering together. There's a mass assembly of these, some six thousand, roughly, or more people, coming together for this great journey. But during the three days that Ezra is there, obviously, he's looking around at the people, and he finds, look, there are none of the sons of Levi. Because there's none that can serve in the house of God. You may know in your Bible that the only people that were able to offer sacrifices and do the works in the house of God were for those that were part of the Levitical tribe. And the Levites, yeah, they were taken into captivity to Babylon, just like the rest of them. You know, my question is, it's three days. The king's given them permission. We saw that in the previous chapter. Why is it that we have approximately six thousand people plus, and within none of these people are there any Levites? Why is that? That surprises me. Now, I think the answer is obvious, because the king did say the Levites can return as well. You know, he offered it as a free will for anybody to return back to Jerusalem to worship God in the house of God. But for me, you know, don't forget it's been 70 years of captivity. There are generations being born into Babylon. This is all they know. This is the world they know. They've gotten comfortable, is what I'm trying to say, all right? As Levites, their role is supposed to be to serve in the house of God, but they've gotten comfortable, right? They're working their secular jobs. They've got their houses. They've got their families. They've got their contacts. And it's just much easier to stay in Babylon than to go back to Jerusalem. I mean, Jerusalem's just been rebuilt. I mean, the city's still all in pieces. The temple's been built. I mean, why go to a place and start from scratch all over again when we're comfortable here in Persia? And you know what? This speaks to me, basically is the reality for those that one day want to become, you know, get into full-time ministry. You know, it's very hard to actually find men that have a desire to become pastors or to become deacons. You know, we see this mass of people. They're all excited, all right, we're going to the house of God, but where are the Levites? Where are the servants? Where are the ministers? You know, sometimes I talk to people online and they're, you know, from Australia, and they'll say, oh, can you start a church in Perth, right? Can you start a church in Adelaide? Can you start a church in Melbourne? And I'd love to. I'd love to start. You know, they're the people, yeah. You know, let's get together. Let's start a church. Yeah, but where's the pastors? You know, I mean, it's one thing to get a group of people that, yeah, let's get back to the house of God, but where are the ministers? Where are those going to stand up and lead that house? And so I see the same sort of momentum developing here. The people coming back, we're the Levites. You see, one thing that we learn is that it's a lot more comfortable in Persia than it is to serve in the house of God. What I'm trying to say is it's much more comfortable. There's much more stability. It's much easier to work a secular job, okay, than actually to be willing to lay that aside and serve God full-time in the ministry of a church, whether that's a pastor, whether that's a full-time deacon that a church might have, you know, because you don't really have the stability. They're going back. They're starting from scratch. You know, going to start, you know, I can relate to this, obviously, because going to the Sunshine Coast, starting a church from scratch, you don't have the stability. You know, where are we going to meet? Are there going to be people that even come to church? Am I going to be able to preach the sermons necessary to feed people the house of God? Is there going to be the resources, the manpower, the finances, to make sure that everything continues and that I can look after myself and look after my family? And so, you know, that risk, you know, obviously requires faith. It requires to step out of your comfort zone. And unfortunately, well, I don't know, unfortunately, right? There are just not enough men willing to do it. That's just how it is, okay? And where are the Levites? Well, we're just comfortable in Persia. Do we really need to go back? But anyway, this is an issue because that's the purpose of Ezra. Ezra's going back to serve in the house of God, right? To appoint people to be judged in the area and for the society to blossom once again. And they can rebuild not just the temple, but also the entire city and go from there. And so, you know, if your heart is to one day be a pastor or you know someone that does, you know, please understand it's a huge undertaking. It requires a lot of thought. It requires a lot of effort, you know. Some people think it's just this, I'll just tick a box. I'm married, yeah, I ticked the box. I've got kids, all right, I ticked the box. You know, yes, I've been serving the house of God. Okay, tick that box. And now I'm ready to be a pastor, you know. I've been saved for two years and I'm ready. You know, I know something about the Bible and I'm ready to pastor and lead a church. It requires a lot of effort, a lot of sacrifice. And, you know, I'm not trying to, you know, I'm not trying to speak highly of myself. You know, brethren, I'm just a man. I am just a man, all right, who's been given the privilege of pastoring two churches, you know, studying two churches from scratch, right? That's it, you know, and it's because of the blessing of God and having our faith resting upon him that has allowed me to so far do this for over four years, all right? But it's not just a ticking off box. It's never been this thing that I thought, you know what, I'm just, you know, I'm being pastor, I just got to get this thing done. I realized the risk that I'm going through. I realized, especially with a large family, you know, I could be put in my family position where I can't sustain them, I can't look after them, then what happens, you know? What happened to the church? What happened to the family? And these are concerns that can fall upon someone. And so let me just encourage, you know, I don't want to discourage people from desiring to be a pastor one day. We need churches in Perth, we need churches in Melbourne, we need churches in all these places, brethren. But prepare yourself. Understand it's a journey. It's going to take effort. Start applying yourself to get into that position if that's really where your heart is. You know, just for example, I was 22 years old, I'm 40 now, but I was 22 years old when I first had that desire to, well, to become a pastor. And the reason for that is because I got myself plugged into a good IFB church. You know, I had a pastor that was preaching great truths, I was learning a lot, and I just thought, you know what, I'm learning so much from this man, I hope that God could one day use me to teach people in the same capacity. That first desire, that first thought dawned on me when I was 22 years old. Now, I eventually went to another church and, you know, I thought, well, what are the next steps potentially, you know, do I go to Bible college, do I do this? And I realized that some Bible college courses can be three years, and then I had to look at other people, there's deputation, meaning they go around from church to church, sometimes they go overseas, and they're looking for financing and funding so people can come and help them get their feet grounded from a financial perspective so they can go and start doing the work. And I said, okay, three years Bible college, and, you know, maybe another year or two, some people got two years on deputation, it's like five years. Anyway, I remember just sitting in church one day, and the pastor got behind the pulpit, and he goes, you know, the world is becoming so wicked, so corrupt, he said, I'd be surprised if Jesus Christ does not come back within the next five years. And he didn't date set, obviously, he just said, I'll be surprised. So I just thought, man, my pastor, he thinks Christ is gonna come back within the next five years. You know what, I'm never gonna get this church off the ground, so let's forget about it. I don't have enough time, you know, to go through the process of Bible college and deputation, et cetera, I'll just serve here in the local church. And so really, and then eventually, obviously, I understood eventually that the pre-tribulation rapture is not the right teaching on this topic. But anyway, that's a separate topic. But, you know, when I got to 30 years old, I looked at my life and I thought, well, you know what, Jesus Christ, when he started his ministry, he was 30 years old. And I thought about myself at the age of 30. And I just thought, you know what, yes, if I'm gonna become a pastor one day, I need to start applying myself, I need to really start putting the effort in, right? And so that's where the doors opened up for me to preach at church and serve as a deacon, I served as a Sunday school teacher, Sunday school superintendent, and plus all the other little things that, you know, just being a cleaner, mowing the lawns of the church building, et cetera, just whatever I could to just help me serve in God's house, and to hopefully, you know, that desire would build and that God would open the doors to be sent out as a pastor. You know, I was 31 years old when, because I was praying to the Lord, Lord, if you want me to start a church one day, where do you want me to go? I was 31 years old when God opened my eyes to understand the Sunshine Coast is the place to go. That's where we needed a soul winning church. But I wasn't, I didn't go until I was 36 years old, I was 36 years old when I went to start New Life Baptist Church on the Sunshine Coast. So I just wanted to, I'm stepping you through that process because I hope that we can ordain pastors, ordain deacons, but brethren, it's, you know what, understand, it's a big calling, okay? You may find yourself much more comfortable in Persia, okay, in the Babylonian Empire, than going back to the house of God. It requires a lot of sacrifice. And I'm not saying that, oh, you know, what a wonderful pastor we have. I'm just being real with you guys, okay? And I know there's a lot of people that would like to be pastors one day, but listen, don't rush it. You know, look for the Lord's leading, prepare yourself, apply yourself, learn how to preach, read more Bible, do more study, spend more time with God, right? Do more soul-winning, you know? Teach, you know, your wife, teach your children, great truths of your Bible, just find whatever opportunity it is to serve in the house of God, and God would bless that. Okay, back to Ezra chapter 8, please, verse number 16. Ezra chapter 8, verse number 16. It says, And chief men also for Joarib and for Elnathan, men of understanding. So Ezra gets all these men together, men of understanding, men that have wisdom and knowledge, right? And he says, So I'm assuming in Cassiophaea, there were numerous Levites and Nethanims dwelling in that place and saying, look, we need men to serve in God's house, all right? Now, we're going to learn later on in this chapter who the Nethanims were here. I have kind of preached about it before, but we really learn more about them here in the coming verses here. But it says in verse number 18, And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding of the sons of Manali, the son of Levi, so now they finally find these men, these Levites, the son of Israel and Cherubiah with his sons and his brethren, 18. So they find 18 Levites to come and serve in the house of God. And then it says, And Hashabiah and with him Jeshuaiah and the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, 20. So the 20 here are not Levites, but the 20 are the Nethanims, okay? So 18 Levites, 20 Nethanims. You say, who are the Nethanims? Well, just very quickly, okay, 18 plus 20, that's 38. 38 people able to come and serve in God's house. And then it says in, oh, sorry, I'm getting this wrong. I'm getting this wrong, sorry. 18 Levites plus 20, they're also Levites. My mistake. Apologies, brethren. There's 38 Levites, 38 Levites. The Nethanims come in verse number 20. Verse number 20, it says, Also of the Nethanims, now we actually learn what the Nethanims are, okay? It says, Whom David, so that's King David, and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites. So are the Nethanims Levites? No, they've been appointed to serve, for service of the Levites. 220 Nethanims, all of them were expressed by name. So 220 Nethanims, 38 Levites coming back to serve in the house of God. Say, who are the Nethanims? Well, obviously, they're not Levites. They're other Israelites, they're other people of other tribes, and they would serve under the Levites. They would be there, you know, helping them for whatever service that is needed for the house of God. But they're operating under the authority of the Levites. And I think that probably the closest illustration that we can get of this in the New Testament church is you can think of the Levites like the pastors, and you can think of the Nethanims like the deacons, okay? Where the deacon is there to support and help the pastor and whatever else that the church needs, he's operating under the authority of a pastor. Well, the Nethanims would operate under the authority of the Levites, making sure that everything the Levites needed was taken care of. So a different office, but the Nethanims operating under authority, okay? So as I said, it's kind of like what we consider deacons today. Okay, let's keep going there, verse number 21. Then I proclaimed a fast there. So once I got everybody on board, then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahavah that we might afflict ourselves before our God. We actually learn here what fasting is all about. When we talk about fasting, going without food, going without water potentially, what's the point of this? That we would afflict ourselves before God. What's affliction means? Well, hurting ourselves, well, kind of. Fasting is not easy. I'm sure there are many people that will not fast tonight because it's just too hard. You know, going without a meal, going without two meals because it's affliction. Yes, it's difficult. Yes, it's challenging. The point is we're afflicting ourselves before God. And it says here, to seek of Him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance. And so when we fast, then what are we afflicting? We're afflicting the flesh, okay? Normally our bodies, we love to eat, don't we? Breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever snacks we eat. But you're saying to your flesh, you're saying to your body, no, no, I'm going to afflict you. We're not going to whip ourselves. We're not going to hang ourselves on a cross like the Filipinas do, okay, Jirenista, not that kind of affliction. We're just going to withhold food from our bodies. We're not going to give our flesh what it wants. Can you keep your finger there and please go to 1 Corinthians 7. 1 Corinthians 7, please. Keep your finger there in Ezra 8 and please go to 1 Corinthians 7 and verse number 4. 1 Corinthians 7 and verse number 4. Now this passage we're about to read is about husband and wife and it says here in 1 Corinthians 7, 4, the wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband. So the wife's body belongs to the husband. Say, man, that's sexist. And likewise also, the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Yes, a husband's body belongs to his wife, okay? They are one flesh. They were in agreement when they entered into their marriage union. But then it says in verse number 5, defraud ye not one the other. This is talking about intimacy, okay, the body of course, okay? Defraud not one another. Like you should not withhold yourself from having that intimate relationship that belongs in a marriage. And then it says this, except it be with consent for a time that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. So to withhold from that intimate relationship as husband and wife, you would do that also if you're taking time to pray and to fast. Again, you're not giving the flesh what it wants, okay? You're afflicting the flesh. You say, flesh, no, you don't get what it wants, okay? We're not going to highlight the flesh. We're not going to give anything the flesh in his eyes. We're going to give ourselves to the Lord God. We're going to give ourselves to the new man, the spirit that is within us. That's what fasting represents. No to the flesh, yes to the spirit, okay? And showing God that we're willing to sacrifice the pleasures, you know, even just eating, right? Just giving anything that our flesh wants. We say, no, God, you know what? There are things that are more important than eating right now. There are more things important than an intimate relationship with my wife right now. And I want to come before you, not giving anything to my flesh because in my flesh there is sin. And I want to give myself wholly in spirit to you, Lord, as I come and bring my request before you, Lord. And this shows, God, that we're serious when we come and pray for these things. Obviously you don't necessarily need to fast for every little minor thing, but as these 6,000 plus people gather themselves to make a big trip, okay, back to Jerusalem, they're seeking God's help, okay? This is a massive decision in life. It's important to pray and fast when you need God to answer some serious prayer, all right? So this is what it's all about. This is why we fast. The Bible says in Galatians 5 16, This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. So that's the whole point. We're not giving ourselves to the flesh in any regard, even the things that are not sinful in the flesh, okay? Eating is not sinful, okay? But we don't want to give our flesh any pleasure. We want to walk in the Spirit. We want to show God that we're serious. We're coming and bringing these petitions before Him. Now the next question is, why should we fast? Well, as I said to you, making a big decision in life, such as going with 6,000 people into Jerusalem, hey, that's a big call, right? Leaving all the comforts, everything you know in Persia, that's a big decision. But what we saw there in verse number 21, let me just double check that. Yeah, verse number 21. It says that we might afflict ourselves before our God, so these are the reasons to seek of Him a right way for us. That's one. And for our little ones, that's number two. And for all our substance, those three things that they're bringing before God in prayer. And so the first thing that was mentioned there is to seek of God a right way, okay? So I'm assuming that they've got multiple paths, multiple ways to get to Jerusalem, okay? And they're going to God, saying, God, tell us the best way. Tell us the right way, okay? What is the best route to Jerusalem? This is making important decisions. Why? Because there might be dangers on certain routes, okay? Don't forget how much they're carrying. They've got all this gold and silver and the precious things that belong to the house of God. They could be targets for, and you'll soon see, yes, that was one of the concerns. They'd be targets to people that would hurt them, rob them, take things away from them. And so they're asking God, show me the right path, show me the right way. And brethren, if you've got a big decision to make in life, you've got different options before you and you're just not sure, maybe it's a good time to pray and fast as well. And brethren, the reason we're praying and fasting is because we're asking God to show us the right way for blessing our Baptist church. This past is returning back to Queensland in a few weeks, all right, with the family. And, you know, what are the right decisions? What's the right path for blessing our Baptist church, that you would find the path of God's blessings? What else did they pray about? They said, for our little ones, our children, our descendants, okay? We want to make sure that they remain faithful to the Lord. You know, we want to make sure they're protected. We want to make sure they've got everything they need to grow up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, okay? You know, to me, the next generation is so important. You know, when I started the church, I always had my mindset, yes, for the people that are here, but also the children. The children are so important to me that I try my best to preach sermons that children will understand, okay? We need to have a mindset about the next generation. We've seen, in the books of Jeremiah, as they went into captivity, we saw the generations got worse and worse and further away from the Lord, further and further and further away from the Lord, and God brought down His judgment as they were taken away into Babylon. And so they got this concern, all right, let's pray for our children, right? So they don't make the same mistakes that our forefathers have made in the past. Yes, pray, pray and fast for your children as well. They would continue in their faithfulness toward God. And the third thing they had was for all our substance. Lord, please make sure we have everything we need, all the resources, the food, right, the medical aid and the equipment to take all this stuff, all these people, Lord, on this journey. You know, that we would not be robbed, we would not lose the substances, that everything would be taken, that we'd have your hands of protection around us. And yes, you know what, that's a good time as well. If you find yourself in a place of financial difficulties and you're not sure whether you can provide for yourself, you're not sure if you'd have the substances for your family yourself, it's a time to get down on your knees and to pray and fast before the Lord. And so Brethren, fasting has, you see here in this passage, many, several reasons why we would do this, but don't forget the purpose is to afflict the flesh, okay? There's no good thing in this flesh, all right? And for a period of time, we're just going to give ourselves wholly to the Spirit of God, okay, as we go and bring our petitions before Him. Verse number 22, please, Ezra chapter 8, verse number 22. He says, for I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way. He goes, I was too ashamed, right? I could have gone to the king and said, hey, king, can we have the armies as well to protect us on our journey? Why was Ezra ashamed? He says, because we had spoken unto the king saying, the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him, but His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him. So Ezra had told the king, hey, look, God's going to put His hand upon us, we're seeking the Lord, we're trying to do God's will, God will protect us. And then he goes, man, I said that to the king, how can I go to the king now and ask for his armies, ask for soldiers? Otherwise he'll think that I don't believe what I said, right? And so he's ashamed to ask. Would it have been wrong to ask? Of course not. It's just showing you Ezra's personality coming out of here a little bit, okay? Man, I spoke these words, I can't go back and make it, you know, potentially disgrace my Lord God before the king. But you see that, again, one of the key reasons they're praying and fasting is because they wouldn't have these soldiers, they wouldn't have the armies of Persia protecting them on their journey. So they're asking God, God, can you protect us? Can you take care of us? Can you give us the best route? Can you take care of our children and make sure that we have the substances we need to get to point B? And I love how verse number 22 ends. It says there, because we have spoken unto the king's saying, and this is so true, the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him. But His power and His wrath is against all them that forsake Him. You know, brethren, if you've been saved, you've escaped the wrath of God. You've sought the Lord, you've sought His salvation. Or praise God, if you're saved and you've trusted Christ as your Savior, the Lord will do good unto you, okay? But His wrath is against all them that forsake Him. And you know what this reminds me of? This reminds me of John chapter 3 verse 36. I'll just read it to you. The words of Jesus, He says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. What a great blessing that is, to have everlasting life. All we have to do, brethren, is to believe in the Son. All we have to do is trust Jesus, that Jesus has done everything necessary for salvation. It's a done deal, complete in Christ. No matter what I do on this earth, I know I'm going to die and go to heaven because of what Christ has done for me. That's a great blessing. But then it says in the second part of that verse, And He that believeth not the Son, if you don't believe in the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on Him. You see, brethren, if you're saved, there was a time that you sought the Lord and He's blessed you. His good hand is upon you. He's given you everlasting life. He's guaranteed you a home in heaven. But for those that unfortunately forsake Him, for those that do not believe on the Son, the wrath of God abides on them. Even to this day, the wrath of God is upon them and that wrath will fall upon them if they die without Jesus Christ. The importance of soul winning, the importance of preaching the gospel to these that have the wrath of God abiding upon them. We need to bring them from that wrath and bring them into the blessings of salvation through Jesus Christ. Back to Ezra chapter 8, verse number 23. It says, So we fasted and besought our God for this. That's where we get the title for the sermon. And it says this, And He was entreated of us. So God heard them. God saw their fasting. God heard their prayers. God heard them and He answered. So this is wonderful about praying and fasting. God sees it. God sees the affliction. God sees the seriousness. Because if we're honest brethren, I'm sure many times we pray and we just utter vain repetition words, where we don't actually mean what we're saying. We're just going through the motions. And that's what's wonderful about fasting. You're afflicting yourself. You're not going through the motions anymore. This is something special, something different. And God hears and He's entreated of us. It says there, And He was entreated of God heard. God heard their petitions. God heard their prayers. God heard all the 6,000 coming together, seeking God for the protection, the children, the substance, the journey, the blessings of God upon them. So brethren, prayer and fasting, absolutely important. You know, God answers, God will hear what we have to say. Verse number 24. So I'm just going to read to you verses 24 to verse number 30. It says, Even the offering of the house of our God, which the king and his counselors and his lords and all Israel their present had offered, I even weighed unto their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver and silver vessels and hundred talents and of gold and hundred talents, also twenty basins of gold and a thousand drams and two vessels of fine copper precious as gold. So let me just get me up to speed here. So as we're just going around, all the priests here, the chief of the priests, and distributing all the wealth, all the things they have amassed, they didn't want it to just, obviously one man could not carry that alone, so they're dividing it amongst all these people to take care of it for the journey to come. And then it says in verse number 28, And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the Lord, the vessels are holy also, and the silver and the gold are a free will offering unto the Lord God of your fathers. Watch ye and keep them until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites and the chief of the fathers of Israel at Jerusalem in the chambers of the house of the Lord. He says look, take this, and then when we get to the finish line, when we get to the house of the Lord, we've got to weigh it once again. Ezra, he's a scribe, we already saw that he's a scribe, he takes reporting seriously, and when he comes to finances, he gives his large sums of gold and silver and precious things, and he says listen, when he gets to the end, we've got to do an accounting for what I've given you. These guys, they couldn't just pocket it for themselves. Look, oh man, this is nice, let's take 90% of the house of God and put 10% for us or something like that. That's not what's going on. Ezra wanted to make sure that the full amount reaches the house of God. It says in verse number 30, So took the priests and the Levites, the weight of the silver and the gold, and the vessels to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God. So we learn here that each of them, each of these chief priests, were responsible for what was given to them. They were responsible for what was given unto them. And brethren, when I think about Blessed Hope Baptist Church, you know, I understand I have a responsibility toward this church. God has given me this church, the people of this church, we've had people come, we've had people go, we've had different changes of people, but this is the responsibility that God has given me. This is why I take this church seriously, okay? Yes, New Life Baptist Church is my priority, on the Sunshine Coast, yes it is, but I don't take this church any less seriously. This is why we're praying and fasting tonight, to bring this church before the Lord, okay? And you know, God has given us this church, and if you count yourself a member of this church, God has given you this church. You know, what are you going to do with this responsibility that God has given you? But we also notice here, the chief priests carrying large sums of money. And again, I spoke to you about, you know, for those that one day want to become a pastor, you know, or a deacon, you know, you will be handling money, you will be handling people's offerings, right? Their tithes and offerings in the house of the Lord. And this is why, when we look at the qualifications for a pastor and a deacon, it's so important that it's, I'll just read it to you. I'll read to you from 1 Timothy 3 verse 2. 1 Timothy 3 verse 2. It says, A bishop then must be blameless, the bishop is the pastor, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, give it to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre. Not greedy of filthy lucre. Now, please don't go into the ministry. If your heart is to one day be a pastor, please don't go into the ministry thinking, how much can I make? You know, can I make more than my current job? Then I'll go become a pastor. You know what? If you're going to start an IFB church from scratch, you're probably going to go and serve God's house for free for a long time. Okay? You're not going to make the big butts. As I said to you, it's more comfortable in Persia. It's more comfortable in Babylon. It's more comfortable working a secular job when you earn your paycheck and you know it comes every week, every fortnight, every month, whatever it is that you have organized. Okay? You know, forget about it. If you realize you've got a problem with money, you don't know how to save, you know, you spend recklessly, then I strongly encourage you, please reconsider. You're probably not the man for this position. Okay? And also, as a deacon, in 1 Timothy 3 verse 8, it says, Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy Luca. The office of a pastor, the office of a deacon, these are the two offices that God has for the local New Testament church and neither of those men are permitted to be the kinds of men that would be greedy for filthy Luca. Okay? To me, it raises a red flag when someone's just constantly going on about the money. Okay? Or, you know, complaining about how much the pastor's getting paid or something like that. You know what? I've said it from the very beginning. You know, if I can't pay myself as a pastor, I just won't. You know, at the end of the day, worst case scenario, I'll go and work another job. Okay? But if I can pay myself, I will. Okay? I will. But, you know, only if I can. It's not, I didn't go into the ministry seeking, you know, filthy Luca, but at the end of the day, you know, you need to be taken care of. And it's perfectly biblical and right that those that serve in the house of God ought to be paid. Let's keep going there. Ezra chapter 8, verse number 31. Then we departed from the river of Ahavah on the 12th day of the first month to go unto Jerusalem. Look at this. And the hand of our God was upon us. So did God answer their prayer? Absolutely. Okay? They asked God for protection, for guidance. His hand was upon them. Look at this. Look at this. And he delivered us from the enemy and of such as lay in wait by the way. So did God deliver them from the enemy? Yes. He led them on the right route. Okay? Now we don't know how he delivered him from the enemy. We don't even know if this enemy exists. I mean, obviously this enemy existed. Okay? But we don't know which enemy this is. Right? Ezra just knew we're doing a great work for God. We're going to Jerusalem. We have all these things to serve God. Surely there are going to be enemies that are going to try to stop us. So Lord, you protect us. And the Bible makes it very clear that God did protect them from the enemy. But they never encountered an enemy. Why? Because they had a safe trip. Okay? And this goes hand in hand with my sermon on Sunday when I had spoken about that God is a consuming fire and we saw that God has these fiery hosts, these horses and chariots of fire and the protection that he offers his people. And you know what? We don't see it. You know, we don't see the enemies necessarily. You know, we can go about life just serving God. To just go about life just serving the house of God. Thinking, man, everything's running so smoothly. Not knowing how many times God has protected us from enemies. I have no doubt that, bless it, our Baptist Church has enemies. I have no doubt that people hate me. Okay? I have no doubt people want to hurt me and my ministry. Well, hey, that's a great time to pray and fast. God protect us from the enemies. I don't even need to know who they are. I don't even need to see them, Lord. As long as you defend me, as long as you protect me, as long as you lead me in paths that are safe, then Lord, my trust is in you. My faith is on you. Lord, that is in your hands. And so God has come through and delivered them. But don't forget, there is an enemy that we all have. First Peter chapter five verse eight, which reads, Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Brethren, we all have an enemy, the devil, and the forces of darkness. His devils that he has, his kingdom that he has upon this earth. And brethren, we need to be aware, be sober, be vigilant, be aware there are enemies in our path. There are people trying to hurt us. There are people trying to stop you from serving God, from being in the house of God, from just doing great works from God, even stopping you from soul winning potentially. This is why we go before God in prayer and fasting. God protect us, protect us from the wicked, protect us from our enemies, so we can go about doing great works for God without any, you know, concerns for our safety. Let's keep going there. Ezra chapter 8 verse number 32. And we came to Jerusalem and abode there three days. Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Merimoth the son of Uriah the priest. And with him was Elazar the son of Phinehas and with them was Josabat the son of Jehoshua and Noah, Noah-diah the son of Binai-Levites. So they spent three days in Jerusalem and now it's time to weigh up all the gold and silver and the precious things on the weights. Now it's time to report on the accounting. Was anything stolen on the journey? Was anything lost? Well, what happens? It says here in verse number 34. By number and by weight of everyone, look at this, and all the weight was written at that time. So there was an accounting, okay? One thing we definitely learn in this passage is that God's house must keep financial records. There must be an accounting, okay, of what comes in and what goes out. This is why we do financial reports. And coming up in July, we have a new financial year and I'll be doing, Lord willing, if I'm able to come down here in July, I'll be doing a financial report for this church, just showing you how much has come in, how much has gone out, in what areas has it all gone out. This is why we've got accounting for the offering that comes in to the house of God for every service. It's important that we keep records, we keep financial records. Why? Because men, unfortunately, they do get into positions as pastors and deacons to steal money. And yes, it happens. It happens in IFB churches. It happens, brethren, okay? Pastors stealing money, deacons stealing money. We must keep a record and account of everything that takes place. And for, you know, if you're a member of this church and you want records of something, you know, I'll give it to you. There's no reason to hide those things, okay? In fact, as I prepared to go back to Queensland, back to Queensland, I will be having another meeting with the men and I will be giving you just a very short little summary on the financial position, currently of the church anyway. But I'll do a much bigger report for everybody come July. But yeah, definitely keeping accounting of what takes place is so important in the house of God. Verse number 35. Also, the children of those that had been carried away which would come out of the captivity offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, 12 bullocks for all Israel, 90 and six rams, 70 and seven lambs, 12 he goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering unto the Lord. So now they're offering all the cattle, all the things that they brought before to offer the sacrifices to God, right? They're given their honor. They're following the laws of Moses that God had passed down. Now don't miss verse number 36, okay? It's just a constant theme for this church for some reason, okay? Verse number 36. And they delivered the king's commission, that's King Artaxerxes, okay? They delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants and to the governors on this side of the river and they furthered the people and the house of God. All right. So, you know, we should not have this haughty attitude, this lifted up prideful attitude to say what does the government, hey, what does wicked pleasure have to do with the house of God? We should just be able to carry about our business however we want. The government should have no role and no say in how we serve God in his house. Well, say that to Ezra, okay? What are they doing? They said they got through Jerusalem, you know, 6,000 plus people, all right? And one of the first things they do when they're offering holy sacrifice, obviously this would have caught the attention of the governors of the land for those that are obviously a part of the Persian Empire, right? Well, this mass group of people and what do they do? Hey, let me show you the king's commissions. Let me show you that what we're doing is legal. Let me show you that we're doing it by permission, okay? Hey, what are they doing? They're honoring the authorities. They're offering the governors and these are weak. This is not, these aren't the governors of Judah, okay? These are the governors of Persia, the king's lieutenants, all right? Prevening this idea of what does the government have to say with our church? Well, I mean, again, don't you read your Bible? You know, we got these stories for a reason and we see that God's people they are serving God, they're being obedient to God in whatever capacity they can and at the same time trying to balance the laws of the land. Even if it's a foreign power, you know, a power that does not worship God the way they do, they're still trying their very best to keep themselves aligned with the commandments, the orders, the commissionings that's coming from this government. All right, brethren? So, you know, I say this because we've gone through all these issues, you know? The mass mandates and the limit, the restrictions of how many people can be in the house of God and we have, you know, Christians, oh, man, we're being persecuted and yet it's affecting everybody. It's affecting all faiths, all religions, all churches, you know, false religions. It's affecting clubs and pubs and restaurants. Oh, we're being... Listen, come on, you know? Let's grow up. We should be children of God mature. You know, we have God's word. You know, we have his direction. You know, this lost world they don't know what to do. They don't know who to listen to. We've got God's word and we see this great example of Ezra, right? He makes sure that everything they do is legal. They go and they speak to the proper people to explain to them, hey, we're doing everything under the commandment of the king's commission that he had passed down. All right, brethren? As I said to you, the title for the sermon tonight, brethren, was Fasted and Besought Our God. Fasted and Besought Our God. We're going to have an opportunity soon after this service to get together and pray and fast. And, you know, the things that I want to be praying about, let me just quickly go through them. Number one, the direction for Blessed Help Baptist Church, okay? We're going to have men coming up to preach. We're going to rotate that on the Sundays. I'll be doing my best to travel every single week. I've already got a number of my flights booked as well to come for the midweek services and we need to figure out, you know, just how we're going to run and operate. You know, let's bring that before God. Let's not be so prideful to think, oh, we know we've got it all handled. We need your help. We need your strength. We need your wisdom, okay? Secondly, we want to be praying for our politicians. You know, as we've gone through Ezra, we've seen that God has put it in the hearts of these kings to give them the blessings, to give the Jews the blessings to go back to Jerusalem, build the house of God, having everything they need. In fact, we saw that they furthered the house. The politicians, the lieutenants, all these people, they actually helped, you know, with them getting everything they needed for the house of God. You know, we want to be praying for our politicians, our prime minister, our premier, that God will do a work in their hearts, okay, and that God will change them, that they would leave us alone, that they would pass the right laws that actually are lined up with the Bible and would give us the peace and freedom to continue serving the Lord how we want, that we want to serve Him. So these are the two key things that I personally want to pray for, and if there's anything else that anyone has or else on their mind that they would like to bring before the table as well, then I'll give you that and also to pray for those things. All right, brethren, let's pray.