Check The Records

Introduction:

Season update - we are heading into a season of building here at lighthouse. Pretty soon, we will show everyone what the build out will look like and we will have a better idea of our timeline. And during this season, as we head into the Fall, it’s important to me that we are heading into this season will full hearts.

How do I get my heart full?

Intentionally pour in. Take charge of your soul. Don’t let other people prioritize your life, you set the priorities and the rhythms. Be fierce about your spiritual, physical and mental health.

LET’S LEAN IN!

Context… Exiles finished building the Altar, and began to lay the foundation...

Ezra 4:1–5 ESV

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

The enemy came and asked to build with them. At first glance, this appeared to be a good thing.

Not every good thing, is a God thing.

The way that the enemy fights with a Christian is to convince him to follow good things.

You must learn how to discern what is a good thing, and what is a God thing.

The enemy didn’t succeed at first, but they did plants seeds of fear.

TRANSITION

The exiles continued to move forward, becuase sometimes you need to do it afraid.

Tell your neighbor, do it afraid.

So the enemy sent this letter to the King Artaxerxes.

Ezra 4:12–16 ESV

be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king’s dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

When the exiles moved forward, the enemy dug up their past… and they weren’t wrong.

If you go and read about what was happened with Israel and Judah, you’ll see that this people had gone far from God. There was a lot of infighting. There was opposition. They were a hot mess!

Make no mistake, the enemy will use your past to prevent you from moving forward.

One of the descriptions that we find in the Bible about our enemy is that he is the accuser of the saints.

What you need to know about Lighthouse is this, every saint has a past.

That person that you think is #GOALS, has a past. That person who looks like they have their stuff together, has a past. That girl who worships God with her perfectly manicured finger nails wasn’t always that way.

As a matter of fact, what you need to know is that the people who tend to praise God the most, have been brought through the most.

I read in my Bible, “let the redeemed of the Lord say so!”

Is there anyone here who has been redeemed? Then give God your best praise. Give God your best shout. Let someone know that it hasn’t always been this good.

Oh but we serve a GOOD GOD! A God who loved us at our worst. A God who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty to come and meet with us. If you have a GOOD GOD let somebody know!

TRANSITION

What is even harder for me to deal with is the fact that many times the enemy doesn’t even accuse people, it’s a religious person who does that for him.

It’s a person with a religious spirit who wants to disqualify the people that God is calling.

This happened in the Book of Acts. God called Saul, and it took the church 4 years before they began to let him in. In some ways, I get it. But most often, it’s a religious spirit that is trying to keep someone from receiving the love of God.

TRANSITION

But here is what happened, and this is what I want to say to some of you who are struggling…

Ezra 5:1–2 ESV

Now the prophets, Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.

The lasagna of the word of God...

Haggai 1:3–6 ESV

Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

Get some Prophets in your life!

A prophet isn’t just someone who can speak to your future. Sometimes you don’t need some looking into your future to tell you, “That woman is no good for you.”

You just need to be around someone who loves you enough to tell you, “Oh no...” That girl is ratchet. The boy is bad news.

A prophetic voice in your life is someone who can boldly declare the word of God to you.

And this is why we want you in a Connect Group.

Some of you run with friends who will go along with all of your bad decisions. Some of you have friends that really don’t care about your best interests as much as they care about their best interests.

You have traded in the voice of the prophetic for the voice of the pathetic!

Listen to the prophecy…

They sowed, and didn’t harvest. They drank, and they were still thirsty. They wore clothes but were still cold…

When you only live for yourself, you will never be fulfilled. You will still have a God-sized void in your heart that leaves you wanting more. This is why we want you in our Growth Track and serving on our Dream Team. You have got to be a part of something bigger than yourself! You have got to be a part of something that is eternal. Something that doesn’t die and stay on earth, but something that will outlive you.

TRANSITION

When the Prophets spoke to the exiles, they not only convinced them to start building again, but they got so bold that they wrote a letter of their own to the King telling him that even though they used to be a hot mess, King Cyrus gave them permission to go ahead and build. They told King Darius, you need to go and check the records.

You know you got some boldness when you write a letter to the king and tell him, “I’m sorry, but that #FAKENEWS that you found. You need to go check the record.”

Ezra 6:1–3 (ESV)

Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained.

The King checked the records… and when he did he saw that a decree was written and he put a halt to the accuser.

I think that a lot of people are living in bondage because they haven’t checked the records. I’ve checked the records… and do you want to know what I see?

Conclusion:

Chains and an unlocked lock.