July 15, 2018 Recalled To Life by Pastor Josh Sheldon

Ezra 1 and the Return from Exile

Now if you would please Turn your Bibles to the book of Ezra. Book of Ezra follows 2nd Chronicles. Attend ourselves this morning to the first chapter of this historical record Ezra chapter 1. I'll read the entire chapter.

It's 11 verses in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia. That the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. The Lord stirred up the heart the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia. So that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing.

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia The Lord the God of heaven has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has charged me to build him a house At Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people may his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem Which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord the God of Israel.

He is the God who is in Jerusalem and Let each survivor in whatever place he sojourns be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold with goods and with beasts. We besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

Then rose up the heads of the father's houses of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites. Everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go to rebuild the house of the Lord. That is in Jerusalem.

And All who were about them aided them with vessels of silver with gold With goods with beasts and with costly wares. Besides all that was freely offered Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar Had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.

Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in charge of Mithridat the treasurer who counted them out to Shesh Bazaar the prince of Judah and This was the number of them. 30 basins of gold 1 ,000 basins of silver 29 censers 30 bulls of gold 410 bulls of silver and 1 ,000 other vessels 11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5 ,400.

All these did Shesh Bazaar bring up when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem. Well the title of this morning's message you might have noticed recalled to life. Now that's a shameless borrowing on my part from part one of Charles Dickens the tale of two cities.

That's his title for that part one recalled to life and His story tell us two cities begins with a banker named Jarvis Laurie being told that a man named Alexandre Manette Who had been thought to be dead? had in fact Been spending his years in the Bastille in prison, and they found that he's not dead.

He had just been released from the Bastille. Well now he wasn't literally called to life because he'd never been dead. But he is thought to be in dead and was thus called back to life. It interested me as I was Getting ready to preach this message, and I thought of this Recalled to life and the tie-in to tell to see some weeks ago that yesterday was Bastille Day.

Which is the place where this fictional character was released from released from Liberty released to Liberty from prison. But as I said, he wasn't really dead recalled to life not from literal death.

But having thought to have been dead well that transitions nicely to our opening of this book of Ezra. The series will be in here in the morning service for quite some time. Ezra and then Nehemiah. We're going to Lord willing go through both of those.

And I chose that title recalled to life. Because Ezra is the story Of a seemingly dead nation recalled to life by the powerful and sovereign working of God. And as you heard it is his working through means through human means through the means of a pagan and powerful king and yet this seemingly dead nation a drift in exile recalled to life.

God Calls His People Back to Life Through Providence

As there is a story of Of this Return to home to life if you will it's a story of Israel back in that day. Some 2 ,600 years ago and in very real way. It's the story of the church. Severally and individually is a story of God's watch care over his people that long ago as A signal to us today for God's watch care over what we do even here in this place.

It applies as much to you if you are in Christ Jesus. It applies as much to you individually as it does to the church as a whole. Ezra is the story of God calling to life that which seems to be dead when there is no hope.

When all human effort has found to be useless God is the God of hope and God is the God who calls back to life. In Ezra as we go through this book as we go through this history this record. We'll find at every point that it is God who is at the center.

It is God who you just heard in a reading who stirred up Cyrus's heart to release God's people. It is God who stirred up his own people in their hearts to even want to be released and to leave this security that they'd have for some seven decades and we'll try to put the dates together a little bit as we go through this and Return to a land that had basically been ransacked by Babylonia.

As we go through these books Ezra and Nehemiah We're gonna see that God gets all the glory for his protection of his people from enemies within enemies without. Just as he has done. Just as he will continue to do for us here in the church at least until Christ's return.

Ezra Nehemiah the story of Israel's return from captivity it is their story. It is the church's story, and it is your story. Now there's some crossover between Ezra and Nehemiah in terms of their functioning and what they did but in broad and general terms Ezra who we're going to begin with.

Ezra is concerned with restoring proper order in the temple. Ezra is more focused upon worship and Nehemiah when he comes he's more concerned with civil order. As Ezra was working on the temple so Nehemiah was working on the wall.

That sort of thing there's some crossover between them, but those in the broadest terms. That's where they're focused. That's what they're going to do. Now be good for us since this is a historical record just to take a moment and see where Israel really is here.

What is this context? What has happened to them? Now I'm going to call them Israel. It's really the tribe of Judah and Benjamin and The Levites were with them. Before and after the exile but the Levites never get counted and I want to tell you I call them Israel because in some of the earlier histories before Israel the ten tribes to the north got taken by Assyria.

We had to be very careful to call them Israel and the southern tribes Judah. But sometime before Ezra's time. The ten tribes have been taken away by Syria. So we no longer have to worry about distinguishing between.

Distinguishing between Israel and Judah. I'll just call them Israel or Judah. It means the same thing. I Say that for those of you who are more keenly aware of that distinction in some of the previous histories in 586 BC.

Now BC, of course is before Christ as we go through dates the dates get smaller as time progresses. Because we're going from 586 down to zero, which of course is the time of our Savior Jesus Christ. But just as a reminder for you in 586 BC The Babylonians came at God's whistle and they sacked the temple and they took Judah and Benjamin captive.

That was actually the third time that they'd come the first two times they came they simply took captors. They took some plunder and went the third time 586 BC was their cataclysmic coming. It's when they destroyed the temple now less than 50 years after that in 539 BC less than 50 years after they sacked the temple and took the people captive.

Babylon itself the superpower of its day was defeated by Persia and They're defeated by Persia under the rule under the leadership of this same King Cyrus. Who were introduced to in the first verse of Ezra's history and it's that same year.

We don't know the month exactly. But it's almost as if he defeats Babylon. That's 539. He gets back to his palace. That's still 539 is still his first year and his first proclamation is To send the Jews back to Jerusalem for this express purpose of building rebuilding the temple.

As we do this as we go through this remember is God who stirred his heart it is God Who moved the king to say you can go back? When Babylon took Israel away from there. Back 586 BC and there were actually two exiles prior to that, but when they took them away Their situation was completely hopeless.

They had no army. They had no king. And they had no temple which was the center that was their identifying thing. What were they about? They were about the temple what made them unique it was their worship.

What made them special it was that God had chosen them. Where did they go to meet this God who chose them the temple and the temple lay in ruin? They had nothing. They were a completely devoid of hope.

They're under the thumb of a brutal regime. That's the Babylonians the most powerful in the land. Now I'll read to you from Psalm 137. He'll give you a flavor of just how desperate their situation was.

Psalm 137. By the waters of Babylon there we sat and wept when we remembered Zion on the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs and our tormentors mirth saying sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land if I forget you o Jerusalem let my right hand forget its skill. Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.

It says there Jerusalem. But what they mean of course is the temple that is at Jerusalem my highest joy that place where I can go for worship. All the pilgrimage song the Psalms from 120 to I think 133.

Singing with joy as they go to Jerusalem as they go to the festivals. That to be the highest joy and yet that in their situation gone. How can they get back there? They can't. They're under the rule. They're under the captivity of the people who destroyed that one place.

Now imagine being this people. That you're on the waters of Babylon say it's a group meetings a prayer meeting something like what we have here on Wednesday nights. And we're bewailing the fact that we are captive that we are exile that we're not in our homeland.

We're mourning the fact that we can't worship God properly. Because the temple is the place where that is to occur and along come these people. Teasing and prodding and making it as bad as they can. They come on sing us a nice song sing us a mirthful song sing us a joyous song sing us the way you did when You were at the temple.

We want to hear it. Give us your best. Come on. We're your cap doors. You must do as we say and the next day. The next day they get the news here. It is on the headline. Babylon defeated at a place called Opus Opis.

Babylon defeated Cyrus's force route. Babylon's once invincible armies. Wouldn't that be a joyous thing to hear? That the people who took you captive. These very people who are poking you and trying to get you to sing these songs when you're obviously so sad and They're getting theirs, aren't they?

The same Cyrus that King Sent his armies against the Babylonians who had taken everything that was in their sight for so long and now They're gone. Persia took care of them completely. There's your headline.

Did Babylon defeated Cyrus routes the Babylonians armies and now you Have what? We have a new dilemma. Because there's a new ruler and he's just as pagan and just as if not more brutal than the one that he's disposed.

He's gotten rid of and You know what? You're still his captive. He has as much control over you as did Nebuchadnezzar. You know Providence can sometimes be very dark. Weeds come sprouting up where flowers once grew and brambles where fruit trees once thrived.

We go higher and higher in our tiptoes to see over the tares, but they grow thicker. They grow faster. They wrap us up so tightly that we can hardly move and sleep escapes us and nerves get frayed. We hang up our harps and we refuse to sing or rejoice for 430 years.

Israel groaned under the weight of their burdens in Egypt. Connolly read to you from Exodus chapter 35. And there's a very intentional reason for me having had him read that if you heard the tie-in between The Lord stirring up people's spirits stirring up people's hearts to contribute to the temple very much the language that we had here in Ezra and Most commentator most scholars will look at Ezra and this return from Babylon now Persia back to Jerusalem as the second Exodus and.

So it's right to look at Israel who for four centuries groaned under the weight of their burdens in Egypt this dark Providence they were under. They were there by God's decree. It is God who sent them there.

Remember the whole story of Joseph and how Joseph saved many alive and then they became slaves when a pharaoh was raised up who didn't know Joseph. And so they groaned under the weight of their slavery here in Babylon for 70 years the Jews wept under this servitude and Now they're the property of someone who is probably even worse than before.

Providence can sometimes be dark. It can be hard. We can't see our way around the worries about what's going to happen tomorrow. And Jesus says so clearly do not borrow from tomorrow. You don't know anything about tomorrow.

You can't do anything about tomorrow. A hair on your head. Nothing and Yet praise God. He dwells according to our frailties. He knows our weaknesses. Because the worst things get the more concerned we become about tomorrow the more tomorrow and worry about it.

Distracts us from distracts us from worshipping rightly today. Romans chapter 15 verse 4 tells us whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction. That through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.

We can ask ourselves, you know, what are we going through today? We as a church you as a family you as an individual. I mean has it caused your harp to be put into storage. Has it caused your tongue to cleave to the roof of your mouth so that rejoicing in the Lord cannot escape?

Remember this as We follow what the Apostle says in Romans 15. Looking at this history so many centuries before he wrote that for us that God Does know our situation and as dark as a providence can be it's in his decree that we are there.

What are we going through? Let us not forget That whatever we are going through God is still worthy of worship. That it is a God who rescues its people. Is a God who? Delivers his people. Cyrus's first act is To release them now.

There's a headline for you. Cyrus ruler of all lands today in an act of grace and compassion allows the Jews to return home. If we think of this as the second exodus as I think is proper look back to Pharaoh.

Remember how much convincing he took. With those many plagues that came upon him the destruction of his people. He finally let the people go and Here's Cyrus in this shocking act of grace of mercy to these people.

Does the same it seems that he had less prodding from the divine. But it's still God who did the prodding. It is still God who gets the glory. Remember that it's the same God by the same power by the same loving concern for his own is the one behind them both.

Proverbs 21 one says the king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he will. I think we have no better evidence of it than here. Now I may not know the answer to what you're facing today.

I Might. I might not. I know that God does. I know that God knows. I know that if you are his child is meant for your good. Whatever it is I Know that Israel had given up all hope that they wept at the waters of Babylon.

They had nothing else to do but to weep. They were stuck and they were powerless. Cyrus was actually in Very grave trouble. He was in horrible peril the whole time Israel was in his custody. However short a time it was.

You see God will not allow his people to be captive a moment longer than pleases him. And we think of ourselves in our personal situations. We think of what Paul says in 1st Corinthians. That God is faithful and in the temptation.

He gives you a way of escape. And understanding that we worship a sovereign God you will step into that escape hatch that escape tunnel. At exactly the time that he has decreed for you. No Cyrus was in horrible peril whether he knew it or not every moment.

He held those people beyond what God would have. Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 10 said that the captivity would last 70 years. You can tie that to the 70 Sabbaths that they faithlessly did not give to the land in accordance with the law.

And we can prove this 70 years is exactly what happened according to this decree we can bring it with amazing precision. Just like the 430 years of the first exodus when we look at this history as a matter for our Encouragement as a matter so we might have hope.

What do we get from that how do we find hope there in this 2 ,600 year old history. Well, some of what I've been saying for the last few moments. That wherever you are, you're gonna be there for the every moment that God has decreed for you.

You know, it is for your good if you're in Christ Jesus. You know, he is bringing you into a providence when you come out. You'll be closer to the image of Christ Jesus his son and our Lord. We know this.

And know from this history that we have historical evidence and proof. That it is God who decrees the time when we will exit when we will come back into the light. Think back to exit to Genesis. Excuse me.

Do you remember in Genesis 19 after the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah? And Abraham takes his wife Sarah and they go to Gerar which is the Philistine land. And there's a king there named Abimelech and he sees Sarah and he wants Sarah so he takes her to be his own.

And in a vision at night God says to him you are a dead man because of the woman. You're a dead man because of him because of her. Now, of course Abimelech says a way to say I I didn't know lord you know that I didn't know that she was his wife and God says something like Right.

I know that you didn't know now I'm telling you. You're a dead man. Because she's not where I would have her. Which means at risk of you. And before that in Genesis 12 the king of Egypt suffered much the same fate for much the same reason.

Egypt was going to be destroyed because of her because he was hanging on to her beyond what God would have. Maybe that was only for a moment. Understand that God will have his people Wherever they are.

He will not share them. He will not share you if you're in Christ Jesus with another and no king is going to be able to withstand him. We have in Ezra no evidence that Syrah gave any resistance. So praise God for that then when God first stirred his heart Cyrus obeyed.

And this applies directly to us. Matthew chapter 12 verse 28 Jesus is the one who comes and binds up the strong man who is the devil and plunders his goods, which is us. The strong man is satan. The goods are you and me and it is everyone who believes in the lord.

Jesus christ and just as israel Was in egypt for 430 years and it says in exodus that they left on that very day that God had decreed. In this second exodus this one begun here by cyrus. In the first chapter of ezra 70 years to the day exactly as God had decreed.

And jesus entering the strong man's place. Which is his incarnation? And coming here walking amongst mankind. And then plundering his goods you and me giving us this exodus ourselves. To come out of the world to come out of darkness and into his light.

Jesus said in john chapter 10 that he is the good shepherd. He's the one who gathers together all that the father has given him and not one will escape his clutches his gentle clutches. Though they may be jesus said all that the father has given to me will surely come to me.

J. I. Packer. And commenting on Romans chapter 8 part of what connelly just read to you. He makes the point something like and i'm paraphrasing here something like you know. You're not strong enough. You're not powerful enough to take yourself out of god's love.

If you're in christ jesus, you don't have the wherewithal to do that. It's the same here. We haven't the power. We haven't the strength. We cannot overcome god's design for us. When we're in those dark places.

You know these hard providences. These places where we're by that river and we're just weeping. We don't know what to do. All we know is that we're powerless when we're in that place. What is it that usually gets forgotten what gets left behind first?

I would say often it's worship. It's worship and I don't mean by that coming to church. I mean real worship. And when god rescues us when he gives us a way of escape we need to continue to worship him.

Notice, I didn't say worship him for it because whatever he does or he doesn't do worship is due to him. But when we have this exodus. That's what it's for that we might that he might be worshiped. I get this from the very idea of both these exoduses that we have in the book of exodus the second book of the bible and now ezra.

In the first exodus the one with moses and aaron going before pharaoh. Pharaoh's told over and over again. That they were to be freed for a particular and singular purpose. He says that they might serve me that they might worship me.

Moses was told this will be assigned to you. You shall worship me on this mountain. And here in ezra. What do we have? We have cyrus this pagan king this conqueror of babylon who from babylon inherits as it were this people.

His heart stirred up to send them back to build the temple. And for what purpose? How does the second exodus play out just like the first one? That they might worship me. How many times did he say go back and build the temple and worship your god now i'm paraphrasing.

Here's all the the accoutrements that you need the plates and the bowls and so forth. Go back and build that temple and worship your god an exodus for the purpose of worshiping the god who initiated the whole thing.

We have to understand though that worship cannot be held back until we've gone through the way of escape. I mean, that'd be like saying that god only deserves it when he's come through for us on our terms.

But worship is too often. What's missing when we're in that babylonian kind of exile as we go through this introduction to ezra really I want to think of how god how big god is. I want us to think about that how many times he's rescued his people.

How many times he's rescued you wherever we are. Whatever we're going through. What do we need to think of is how big god is? How consistent he is? Cyrus says some really good things about him. At the end of verse three.

Did you hear what I said when I read that at the end of verse three his decree. Cyrus's decree. He is the god who is in jerusalem. Oh god is so much bigger than just jerusalem. I mean how small god must have seen to him to have said that.

I mean here god's temple has been sacked. His people are few and their exiles in their conqueror's hands. The precious accessories meant for his worship on display in front of the idol credited with the defeat of yahweh.

The god who's in jerusalem, but couldn't even protect his own people in their temple. It reminds me of the syrians back in the the history we have in kings. Where they were going to fight israel and they lost and they fought them in the valley.

So let's go fight them in the mountains because their god is the god of the valleys. So they go to the mountains. Whoops. Well, he's the god of the mountains. We have to find another place. No, he's god.

So much bigger than we can usually conceive. Cyrus say he's the god who is in jerusalem. Doesn't that sound good? He's the god who's in jerusalem. Yes, that's where we worship him. That's where the temple is.

No. He's in jerusalem. He's the god who's in persia. He's the god who is in egypt. He's the god who's in the usa. He's the god who's in sunnyvale. He's the god in our homes if there be faith in you. He's the god who's in you.

No, not just jerusalem. Think of how god how big God really is. Connelly read to you romans 8 32. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things god having given his son for you cannot then they've thought of as Stingy as though there's something after jesus that he'd hold back.

I mean, can you imagine god saying something like hey now I I gave you my only begotten son to die for your sins. I gave you my beloved son, but this other thing you need. Well, no. That's too much. I don't want to give that up.

Whatever that might be. And we mustn't look at that. And say as we sometimes hear that god gave us his best. Have you ever heard that in relation to jesus god gave you his best? Because to say jesus is best doesn't begin to explore the love that gave jesus to walk in the flesh as we do.

To do no wrong before man or god to obey the entire law perfectly and constantly. And then to pay the penalty for sins as if he committed them all. When in fact he committed them none at all and then to credit all his obedience.

To we who did nothing. How does best describe that. That's as close to best as dirt clods are to a diamond. We can't do it. You know the exodus Is sort of a motif that runs through the scriptures. We have the exodus in the book of that name.

That people for 430 years groaning under slavery. And then god hears their groanings. And raises up moses. God visits his people and delivers them with great signs and wonders. Showing the power of his right arm as the people come out of that exodus.

And then into the wilderness as god had decreed and as god had said was the purpose to worship him. We have here in ezra nehemiah this second exodus as they leave that foreign land persia, not egypt, but a foreign land nonetheless.

And israel from egypt going to the promised land and from persia back to the promised land in exodus. This idea runs throughout scripture. God is the same yesterday today and forever. This is one reason romans 15 4 sort of works if you will.

Why does it work. Because god works the same way not without surprise. Not without things that make our jaws drop. But when we look at it in the record that we have there's a consistency because god's mastery over history Is consistent with himself?

As the heavens declare the glory of god. So does history show his his his eternal godhead. And is that divine attributes. Luke's account of jesus's transfiguration. You remember where he's talking to elijah and moses and says in our english bibles that he's talking to them about his departure.

Well in luke's gospel the word behind that departure is exodus. Jesus was talking to them about this exodus that he was going to accomplish. Now jesus was not redeemed by an exodus. Jesus led the exodus.

He redeemed us by his exodus. I mean he departed after he accomplished salvation by way of the cross. His exodus was a return of his rightful glory and place at the father's side, but the exodus of redemption.

The exodus from slavery into the freedom of christ. That's ours. My sermon's name is recalled to life. What was dead was found to have been alive all along. And so begins in charles dickens time one of the greatest novels ever written.

This recall to life that i'm speaking of. Anything but a novel this recall to life. That israel goes through and paul says that's for your encouragement. That's for you to have hope in god. That's for you the individual to look and say this is me.

Ezekiel was one of the exilic prophets. We have that famous passage in ezekiel 37 remember the dry bones. Where god sells and prophesy over these bones and the spirit comes and all of a sudden the bones get flesh and sinews and.

And muscles and they grow up and they become a living thing. Well, that's israel returning from where they were back to Judah back to jerusalem, excuse me for the temple. I think ezer one if it tells us anything it tells us that god is a god of life.

God calls the dead back to life. Recall to life as tale of two cities has it and this becomes an individual story. This becomes your story and my story. So romans 15 4 says. They're written for you. So that you will have encouragement so you can read the scriptures and in them find hope.

Remember what god has done for you the jews in time past. Remember it every year with the passover. They still do the passover. They shouldn't do the passover because christ is our passover. So that that festival is over with but they remembered the exodus.

We remember christ's redemption of us with the lord's table every afternoon here every sunday afternoon here. This is your story. If you are in christ jesus. Let me read to you. The first five verses of the book of ephesians chapter two.

I think as I read you have no doubt that this is god by his word speaking to you speaking to me. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world.

Following the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Let's pause for a second. If we know that all are under the sway of the evil one, we know that we are by nature children of wrath.

We know that we are born enemies of god. We hate god. We can't stand the thought of god and the conviction. He brings to us. We're dead in trespasses and sins walking dead men. Living breathing biologically physiologically alive in that sense, but that sense only in god's eyes dead.

Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh carrying out the desires of the body and the mind. And we're by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind. And see if this next these next two verses.

Don't repeat This exodus motif that we have in the scriptures. But god Being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us. Even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive. Together in christ.

Is this your story? Do you know that if you are in christ jesus now? That you're alive and you're alive now because you were dead recalled to life if you will. An exodus from that world from that death from that darkness accomplished by christ jesus our lord the author and perfecter of our faith.

As he by god's eternal decree Suffered for you. And exactly the moment. In egypt, it was 430 years to the very day in persia. It was 70 years to the day for you. Some of us can remember that very day.

Not a second before or after the day the moment that nano second that god decreed. You should move from there to him. And as our one it's the same lord who stirred up cyrus's spirit to do his bidding.

As the lord Who stirred up your spirit? To believe in jesus christ if indeed you do believe in jesus christ. This is same with salvation. Everyone whose spirit god has stirred. Titus 3 5 says we're saved not by works of righteousness of which we have done.

But according to his mercy he saved us by the washing and regeneration of the holy spirit. Do you believe in the lord jesus christ? Do you know that if you don't you are now dead in trespass and sin. That you are there in persia or babylon or egypt or wherever it might be.

And you should be weeping by the rivers of babylon because there's nothing you can do Except to fall on your face before god. And plead with him for mercy for forgiveness of your sins. And ask for his spirit and showers of refreshment to be poured out upon you.

That you might look up with faith upon the cross of jesus christ. And see there your savior suffering in his sinless self for your sins. It's god Who can stir the spirit and only god who can do that? John chapter 3 we won't go there.

We're all familiar with that. But jesus gives all that to the spirit of god who moves how he will. You don't know where the wind blows. You don't know how the spirit moves, but he moves and he does Change hearts.

You must be born again. It is god who calls us out of darkness and into his marvelous light this great exodus. As we read these grand histories these movements of nations I think it's good for us as we go through this book to remember romans 15 4 that these were written for your edification.

For your encouragement that you might have hope if you know the lord jesus christ. Remember this exodus that he accomplished on your behalf. And if you don't know him. If your faith and trust and hope are not in him I would pray that today would be the day of salvation for you.

Closing Prayer

Amen. Heavenly father we do. Thank you for This day that we have to worship you and for this word that you have given us. I thank you father for the exodus that jesus accomplished on our behalf and for the record that we have Of what you have done in history for that nation.

So it may look and have the encouragement and hope that you intended. Do pray father for Hearts to be stirred to come to the lord. Jesus christ and worship him rightly this day that today would be the salvation for many.