Sermon Notes

Ezra 4:1-6 Resistance to the God given Dream
There are 3 kinds of resistance. The resistance of (1) our sinful nature,
Rom 7:23, “warring against”; (2) a sinful world, John 16:33, “In this world
you will have tribulation;” and (3) the “Man of Sin,” the devil. Rev 12:10,
“the accuser of our brethren.”

1. Attacks on a dream come first to the leaders.
Vs. 2 “they came to Zerubbabal and the heads of the fathers”

2. Resistance to a dream comes from opposing essential beliefs.
Vs. 2 “Let us build with you, for we seek your God…as you do”

“To divide His dominion with others is to dethrone Him altogether.”
- Alexander Maclaren

3. An attack on the dream always aims to destroy unity.
Vs. 3 “But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathersʼ
houses of Israel said to them”
2 Cor 13:11

4. There is always a season when the dream seems to die.
Vs. 24 “Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased”
Ezra 5:1-2 & Zechariah 4:6-9