Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ

We have been studying through the book of Ezra as we are trying to encourage our hearts to rebuild, renew, and restore the work God has given us to do. But in Ezra 4 we see the work stops because of the discouragement, the fear, and the threats that are being leveled against the people. Ezra 5 opens that God sends Haggai and Zechariah to be prophets to these people. But the book of Ezra does not record what these prophets said. So I want to take a quick three lesson detour and come to the book of Haggai to see what Haggai was saying to the people. We will look at what Zechariah said to the people later this spring. But we will look at what the prophet Haggai had to say. The message that we are going to see Haggai repeat to these people is to consider their ways (Haggai 1:5, 7)…

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Why do we fail at temptations? Why are temptations so hard to have victory over? Temptations can be frustrating because it can seem like it is failure after failure. Sometimes it can even seem like there is no hope for success. One of the reasons we struggle with temptations is that we do not see what is underneath the temptation. We often do not see what the temptation is really about. We can think that we just have these certain desires and this is the ultimate problem. But our failure at temptations goes far deeper than this. Jesus is going to show us what is underneath Satan’s temptations and how he gets underneath these temptations shows us the path to success when Satan comes against us…

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Ezra 3 ends on such a high note. The people rise up, even though they are afraid, and lay the foundation of the temple. The work is underway. The people are rejoicing. Some are shouting for joy and others are shouting with tears as they experience God in this moment, praising him as God is making it possible to return to him. When you get going with God and get going forward in the work, you would want and hope that it would be smooth sailing. But that is not going to be the case for these people who have sacrificed so much to return to Jerusalem and begin work on building the temple. Instead, we are going to see the rise of the resistance. So in this lesson we are going to talk about resistance to doing the work of the Lord and how we can handle times of resistance…

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It must have been one of the most startling moments in the life of John. In Matthew 3 we are told that John is in the wilderness, calling for people to make a break with their old way of living, and to repent because the king and the kingdom are about to arrive. People are coming to John from Jerusalem, Judea, and the surrounding region, confessing their sins and being baptized. Remember that God has set John as the new Elijah, calling for the people to be renewed and restored to God. John has been telling the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to him to not be deceptive but to bear fruit worthy of repentance. But John also said that the one coming after him is so much greater and mightier than himself that he is unworthy to carry his sandals. While John is the voice in the wilderness and as people are coming to him, confessing their sins in repentance and being baptized, Jesus comes from Galilee to John. Now this may not seem like a big deal. But the reason Jesus comes is shocking. Jesus does not come for a conversation. Jesus comes like everyone else to John so that he can be baptized. Let’s read what happens in Matthew 3:13-17…

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The Lord has stirred the heart of Cyrus who is the king over Persia, the world empire in 539 BC. The Lord has stirred him to decree for God’s people to be able to return to Jerusalem so they can build a temple. The significance of this event cannot be overstated. For God to call for his temple to be built means that God wants to be with his people again. Even though the people had deeply sinned and experienced judgment by being removed from the land, the Lord has not stopped desiring to be with his people. So the Lord offers hope in the darkness, moving Cyrus to allow the people to go back and worship the Lord. Those whose hearts had been stirred by the Lord returned to Judah. They return to nothing but have been given resources and wealth to begin to restart the work…

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The Gospel of Matthew is teaching us who Jesus is by recording the events about his arrival in the first four chapters. God promised through the prophets that he would send a prophet before the glory of the Lord arrived. Isaiah said it would be a voice calling the wilderness (3:3; Isaiah 40:3-5). Malachi said that the Lord would send Elijah to turn the hearts of the people (Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6). Notice how the Lord prepares the way for the arrival of his king in the first six verses of Matthew 3…

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