Trinity Evangel Church

The word of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah promised not only that His people would return to their land but that they would return to offer sacrifices in the temple. After 70 years of captivity—which started when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and took away the valuables connected to the temple—God would rebuild the nation and in particular renew the nation's worship.

Ezra 1 opens the story, with Cyrus' decree and an overview of those returning with special mention of the temple items. Ezra 2 documents the 49,000 plus persons who returned in the first wave, including slaves and singers, along with the assets they brought with them. Ezra 3 recounts two more providential stages, though the events took place some months apart.

The first is a renewal of worship sacrifices and the second is laying the foundation of the temple for worship. Watch for the motivation especially in the beginning, and prepare for the resistance especially at the end.

Their worship was based. Calling something “based” today implies a counterpoint to either “cringe” or "woke.” It represents a rejection of progressive ideals and an embrace of nonconformity. But Israel’s worship was more than just courageous, it was Book-based. The foundation of the temple wasn’t just a statement of architecture, it was faith-based.

Chapter 2 opened and closed with reference to Jews settling in their towns. One of the divisions in the documentation numbered the persons by their different cities. But when the seventh month came there was a new sort of coming together.

It was the seventh month of the year (probably 537 BC) when the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. The Lord said in Jeremiah 32:39 that He would give His people "one heart and one way." He gave them a mutual interest, He gave them agreement of purpose.

Among the graces given by God, the unity of the assembly is easy to say and an obvious pain point when it's lacking. We have not because we ask not, and we make no forward progress when every person is picking at one another. It's the way of man, and no wonder we can't get anything done. Unity brings men to worship, and worship, by God's grace, brings men to unity. An assembly with one mind makes things move.

The two men mentioned represent the priestly and the Davidic lines. Jeshua and his fellow priests along with Zerubabbel...with his kinsmen got the place for sacrifices set up.

Three key pieces. First, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. They went by the Book. The Law of Moses is the Pentateuch, the Five Books, also called the Torah. The Book is the standard for righteousness as a standard for the community. The Book got their attention; we'll see it for Ezra especially who was "skilled" in it. Instructions for sacrifices came through the Book.

Second, They set the altar in its place, on the original site, on its “bases” (KJV).

Third, for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands. We'd probably be safe to assume that they would have restarted sacrifices in the best of times, but what drove them (by providence) is recognition of their vulnerability. We could think of the lion (who was actually Aslan) chasing Shasta so that he'd go faster. And when they felt themselves in trouble, they gave themselves to worship.

Burnt offerings are consecration offerings. The burnt offering got set on the altar in its entirety to be entirely consumed in the fire. It represented the sacrificer, and so the sacrificer devoted himself completely to the Lord. This was their response to anxieties, to cast their whole persons on God.

They also kept the Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles. It was the right time of the year, yes, but this weeklong festival took them into tents as a reminder of the Lord's previous provision in the wildness. When Israel didn't have permanent homes, they had daily provision from the Lord.

Verse 6 ends this part by saying they got all the sacrifices going again but had not yet made progress on the temple.

Verse 7 not only transitions to temple work but resonates with David gathering supplies for when Solomon built the temple in his day. This includes trading for lumber with Lebanon and for stones and craftsman with Tyre and Sidon.

We've moved into the second year of their return by verse 8. In the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem,; they'd come home, but the house wasn't standing. In the second month would be around our April-May, so in the spring when the weather started to be more favorable for building. Zerubbabel and Jeshua are mentioned again, with delegation to the Levites to supervise the work of the house of the LORD. The people were excited about the project.

The rest of the chapter is the sunrise before people who hate the light wake up. The rest of the chapter is a glad choir before the neighbors complain about happy sounds being too loud. It isn't actually the finish; turns out the finish of the temple won't be for another twenty years (c. 516 BC). But these small beginnings were worth big celebration.

They brought out the noisemakers, trumpets and cymbals (see also Psalm 150:5); according to the directions of David king of Israel, so based. They sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD.

For He is good,

This is maybe the summary lyric of the Psalms. Take for example Psalm 136, it’s 26 verses long with the steadfast love taking up the second half of every verse. It was the line everyone knew, a line of response, and here in Ezra with the added toward Israel.

See Jeremiah 33:10-11, prophesied probably around 586, or fifty years ahead of time.

Some of the older men wept, men who had seen the temple in its heyday, men who then were taken to Babylon and now returned. The text doesn't give the explicit reason of their sorrow, whether because they knew the rebuilt temple wouldn't be as glorious, or just bittersweet because of all that had been lost.

Many others shouted aloud for joy. The scene and sounds made it so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

We don't really do the godly shouting thing. We're more on the nervous-about-emotionalism side. And, alright. We prefer our cymbals more manageable, and trumpets are a monstrous blast. Still, there are times when the assembly really gets going. Some of you are old enough to remember our re-meeting inside in the summer of 2020. We don't always get so amped up. For that matter the Jews didn't maintain this fervor. But there's nothing wrong with the praising and giving thanks and making it heard.

The joyful noise got them in trouble. They were jealousable in a negative world. It provoked more resistance than a growing rejoicing.

The next stage is resistance and the worked stopped for 16 years until Haggai and Zechariah urge rebuilding under Darius. Here they “made a beginning” (3:8). And later in Zechariah 4:10 again “the day of small beginnings.”

“The sound heard far away” for God is good. And whatever our hands find to do should be based on worship.

Let the joyful shouts of the assembly ring in your hearts even when you are far away. You are the burnt offerings. Present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. Your life is the altar. Offer yourselves in light of the mercies of God. Be consumed for your good God.

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5–6 ESV)

A month ago we held our Comeford College Convocation. Some good things were said, some good Psalms were sung. But within 15 seconds of the benediction’s amen, someone said to me, "Hey, how come we didn't get to sign the book?"

In the first couple years of the college—those glory days of 2020 and following—we had (and, still have) a fancy, leather-bound book, and as part of the start-of-year ceremony we had all the full-time students, the professors, and the board sign a dated page.

When the first person asked me about not signing this time, one of my kids said to me, "Fail." A couple minutes later another student came over and asked why we didn't make the convocation more formal. I asked, “Like doing what?” The person said, "Like signing the book." Cue my kid who said, "Fail again." Since the convocation we've had a college board meeting, and we spent over half hour discussing the book, should we pull it out for Signers and who should such “privileged” signers be?

If Christ does not return for another thousand years, I'm not suggesting that future generations will gather their kids for a dinner time devotional reading of the names of students who signed up for coursework. But people do care about names. We do care about recognizing the committed. We still make lists to remember individuals who took risks and joined the work.

Ezra 2 is such a list. It's not a genealogy listing fathers and sons for some number of generations, but it does name some heads of families along with some key temple workers. Each one of these persons mentioned didn't sign a roll, but they were identified as those whose hearts the Lord stirred up to leave the life they’d built in Babylon and rebuild their homeland (Ezra 1:5). The list would be significant if it had been found in an archeological dig under the temple in Jerusalem. But this list gets inspired attention; it is divine revelation. It was included in Ezra's record of the Second Exodus, and the same list with a few tweaks is found again in Nehemiah 7:6-43. God wanted and wants this list preserved and considered.

Should it be a sermon? That is a different and reasonable consideration. We can appreciate all the inspired Word of God without all the parts being equally accessible or profitable. But there is a liturgy lesson to skip no Scripture. And, even among people who value their own copy of God's Word, some of us might never attend to these verses on our own.

So to do it well, a preacher would probably want to provide a relevant introduction, that included a number of good reasons for such a sermon, and then he should avoid getting too detailed working through it, and finish with a couple take-aways. Look at us, we’re halfway through already.

On the human level, someone(s) took a lot of time tracking down this information. Who knows how many scribes have made handwritten copies, and how many printers with a letterpress argued to keep it in, let alone the typists making digital copies and the readers for our audio Bibles and the OT scholars and commentators trying to figure it out.

After a brief introduction, there are seven divisions, and then a few final summaries.

The mess and variety of the list argues for its authenticity. And even though we don't know recognize all the names of the players, let alone have all their background, there's less likelihood that they were all made up. There's good reason to trust the rest of the story—the parts that maybe feel more relevant—because of the care given to record these details.

The list sets us up for the altar and temple to be set up in chapter 3.

Making this list establishes continuity between pre- and post-captivity. The Lord didn't start over, He fulfilled His promise to the next generation 70 years later (see Ezra 1:1). The Lord was faithful, and we see it name by name. The Lord was faithful, and we see it city by city. To think that the Lord cares any less about the particulars of His promises now is to miss the pattern of His providence.

And it's more than establishing legitimacy. The names of persons are included because of they were stirred up to sacrifice. The names of places are included because God gave them land. The act of being listed is historic and symbolic. It's not only about physical return but also about restoring the spiritual and covenant identity of Israel. They weren't the first to run through the wall, but they did go back to rebuild the walls.

This documents a new chapter in the story. And it is a turning point that provokes praise.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter,

Let our names be recorded as those building in Jesus' name.

Who doesn't love a good numbered list? (Some of you get some of your best lists made during sermons.) Here’s one for the week: 1. Make a list of how the Lord has blessed you. 2. Make a list of how you can bless others. 3. Pray, sow, wait, and expect to reap without giving up.

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James 5:7–8 ESV)

Automated transcript of the sermon audio, generated with OpenAI Whisper (small.en). It has not been checked against the recording and may contain errors, especially in names and Scripture references.

There is a perception among many Christians that the world we live in is morally neutral. I know that here at Trinity Evangel, that is not a new thing for us. We've heard this a lot. I know that we've heard plenty about the fact that there's no neutrality. everything is either submitting to Jesus or it is not submitting to him. But I am gonna say it again because first the Bible tells us that reminders are good for us and second and maybe more importantly I do think that there is a a lot more depth to this truth that even us here at Trinity don't yet grasp and apply, specifically when it comes to our good works, neutrality as pertaining to our good works.

I think there's still a lot more for us to uncover and apply. We all know that Christians divide life, that many Christians divide life into two categories, right? We, in the first they put all the spiritual endeavors and call that category sacred. So Bible reading, prayer, church, missions, evangelism, this stuff belongs to God. It brings us closer to Him. And so it's held in this special sacred category. This is what most Christians refer to when they say good works. Everything else, unless it's clearly sinful, is held in this neutral category. So education, politics, science, art, and business, these earthly things are neutral playing fields.

And so they are called secular, meaning that they have no religious association. These things can be used to serve God, or they can be used to lead us into sin, but they themselves don't have any kind of moral value.

So 2 plus 2 equals 4 is not good or bad, because it doesn't have any direct correlation with faith in the God of the Bible, neither does voting or chemical research or painting or running a business for that matter. All of these things are morally neutral. That's the second category. So like I said, I know that here at Trinity, explaining that is not new. I know that we believe that living life that way is not okay, it's not good. We are Kyperians, whether or not we like that label. And we understand that Jesus is Lord over every thumbs-with. We do see transcendence in the common and we want to honor God with the ordinary world of work and food and play. We want to spend and use our time, our money, our strength to build with excellence in all the spheres. We want to honor God with all of our good works. This is what we teach and what we try to live like here at Trinity evangel. But we have a lot more theory about how it's supposed to work in our heads, then actual practice under our belt, which is fine. That is okay. That is good

because the first step in anything is renewing our minds, is learning with our minds. And the second is then repentance that orients our heart, renewing our mind, orientation of our heart. But then after your head and your heart are set right, we are to put our hands to the plow. So in order for us to build anything in Marysville and beyond, we need zeal in our head, in our heart, and in our hands. And a lot of the things that we've built and are building so far in our community, in some sense, revolve mostly around our head and our heart. So the church, ECS, Comfort College, and the likes are all focused primarily on getting our head and our heart in the right place. These institutions are wonderful and are a huge blessing. They are doing and are intending to do a lot of good and there's still a lot of work to be done in all of those things, we do need more people to care and to work to keep moving those institutions forward, to keep the ball going further downfield in these things that

are molding us. But these things, these institutions, are things that are molding us as tools for the building and battling project. of the things that we've built so far are forges. So they are blacksmith shops that are crafting us into the right tools and the right weapons. If we're gonna make Marysville a destination, if we're going to build and battle in such a time as this, we're going to need a lot more people founding and building a lot more things out there, applying what we've all learned in here. We need more people founding and building things out there as we apply what we've learned in here. So a part of the reason for this Build and Battle series is to try to move the work out of our heads and into our hands to apply what we know.

The Apostle Peter calls his audience in his second epistle to be all the more diligent to confirm your calling by putting their faith to work. And in a similar fashion, we are calling our church to be diligent to confirm our knowledge by putting what we've learned to work. So not just knowing it, but doing something with all of that. And one of the first places where we can and should apply our worldview out there is in the area of work and business. So that's what I'm gonna talk about tonight, business. What does building effort look like when it comes to the sphere of business? What does it mean to have good works at work?

What does it mean to build a business under the lordship of Christ? What is the objective, the goal, the whole point of a business? What is the end of enterprise? That's my topic, the end of enterprise. And I'm gonna have three points. So if you're taking notes, mental or physical, three points for the end of enterprise. The first point is the main point that I've already introduced. But here it is again, because it is the foundation for all of it. So point number one is Jesus is God. Jesus is God. The Lordship of Christ is the starting point for all of our life, including not just the definition of good works, but giving us the end of all enterprise.

If we approach our work in building a business apart from the starting point that Jesus is God, meaning if we think that business ownership is a neutral playing field that's neither good nor bad, we'll take one of three paths. So one of three paths when we think that business ownership is neither good or bad. First path of moral neutrality in owning a business is defining good works apart from business. Good works apart from business. When our perspective toward business ownership is a neutral one, we see business at the neutral means to an end. So it can be used for evil or it can be used for good, but in itself our business does not have any intrinsic moral value. The business is just maybe a necessity for me to have then a real opportunity to shine my light in a different sphere apart from business. Business is a necessary maybe distraction from ministry and actual good works. We know that work is necessary for life under the Sun. We need to work. We know that we need to feed ourselves and our

families and so we build a business to do so. It's not directly connected to kingdom work, at least in our mind. We may even feel guilty that we don't participate in missions or ministry more often. We don't have much time because we're so busy in our business. But it's okay because we have our business and then we do have our ministry efforts to justify our time here on earth so we could cleanse our conscience outside of business. Maybe the whole point of my business is to fund my ministry. My ministry and good works are apart from business. So good works and business are separated. The second path of moral neutrality in business is trying to place good works in business. So I'm trying to find good works in business. Perhaps some of us do see that owning a business can have streams flowing out of Eden to bring eternal purpose to the ordinary, right?

So we see that business maybe has some kind of opportunity for us to have an eternal impact. And maybe we see opportunities for ethics and evangelism within our business. We get excited and we maybe even start referring to our business as our ministry. We can shine our light within our company so that our employees and our customers can see our good works and maybe be saved. The work itself, for which our business exists, the actual work that we do, the products we make, the services we provide, the profit that the business accumulates, is still just a means to a different moral end. So like a lion hunting his prey, our business simply gives us an opportunity to get close to unbelievers so then we can snatch them into the kingdom.

Whether I do construction work or manufacturing or run a restaurant or anything else that my business maybe does, that doesn't really matter because my business is just a means to an end. It's ethics and evangelism that justifies my time here on earth and my business is providing me with that opportunity. I do ministry and good works in my business. Or the third path of moral neutrality in business is trying to have good works with business, trying to have good works with business. This is when we talk about our company culture in a way that makes it sound like the business itself, again, the actual work that the business is doing still has no transcendent moral value apart from the culture that we're creating in the business.

Again, if my business is morally neutral, it doesn't really matter what the business is doing. On this path, I'm very focused on cultivating relationships through kindness and culture, so that I can have my business culture be the light that shines into the world. I want my business to be used for the glory of God, And the only way I can see that happening is if I'm doing good things with my business. So, each one of these side-step approaches to businesses, to business ownership that many Christians have, so either good works apart from business through, meaning business is a necessary distraction, or good works in business through ethics and evangelism, or good works with business by developing a pleasant company culture in order then to shine my light.

Each one of these approaches sees the business of the goods for profit as neutral territory. Now, all of these perspectives, although might have bits of truth mixed in there, are rooted in one deceptive lie, and it's a big deceptive lie, that Christ does not care about the actual work the business does. That Christ does not care about the actual work the business does. Jesus doesn't care about me framing this house, or making this sale, or cooking this food, or creating this spreadsheet. What Jesus cares about is missions and ministry, or ethics and evangelism, or kindness and culture. Everything else is only a means to an end.

That's what moral neutrality pertaining to our business says. Jesus doesn't care about the business as an end. He only cares about it as a means to an end. But moral neutrality in any sphere is a lie that blows its attack at the center of the gospel. The lordship of Jesus is the heart of the gospel. When God saves sinners, He opens their hearts to believe, their eyes to see, and their mouths to confess that Jesus is Lord. And again, many Christians will agree with that statement just like they agree that we are to have good works. The disagreement happens in what we place under the rule of Christ. What does His Lordship entail?

My personal life, the church, the future kingdom. The confession, Jesus is Lord, does not end at the boundary of the church or personal ethics. It extends far beyond past the borders of the four corners of the earth, and it includes all things. Colossians 1, 16 through 20, for by him, by Jesus, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things. And in him, all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning. the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. The lordship of Christ does not end at soteriology, so things pertaining to salvation. The kingdom of God does not end at conversion. The gospel does not end at evangelism. Jesus is the Lord, the Creator, and the Reconciler of all things, with everything called to obey Him and submit to Him. This means that elevating the spiritual parts of our life as sacred and devaluing the most Material parts as secular isn't is an unfaithful way to live because it is not true There is no neutrality in this world it all Belongs to Jesus and it's either submitting to him or it's not submitting to him So 2 plus 2 equals 4 because Jesus says so Logic and ration and rationality only makes sense because God is a God of order Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder because Jesus sets the standards for beauty.

And free market economics, freely trading your labor for profit, is itself a moral good. The Lordship of Christ is the pulse of the Gospel, sending streams of lifeblood through every area of His domain. The Lordship of Christ is the pulse of the gospel sending streams of lifeblood through every area of His domain. So perhaps the Bible doesn't name every sphere explicitly that is under His Lordship, so we use the word all. It does say all to cover it, but it does explicitly say that God is sovereign over free market economics. The Bible does say that God cares about and is in control over every for-profit endeavor.

You could open up James chapter 4 verses 13 through 15. James 4 13 through 15. Come now you who say, today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit. Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. Yes, the point of that passage is to humble the businessman, to not have him trust himself, but to trust the ultimate principle of his business. Who is the Lord? The Lord controls free market trade and the Lord has a vested interest in who makes how much profit.

Christ cares about everything in this world. It all belongs to Him, including each of our businesses. Our business matters because Jesus is God. We don't need to try to Christianize business by taking it for Jesus. It's already His. We just need to acknowledge that. So that's point number one. Jesus is God. The second point is business is good. So Jesus is God and business is good. Because Jesus cares about all of it directly, Good works are not indirectly demonstrated in business. I'm going to say it again. Because Jesus cares about everything directly, good works are not indirectly demonstrated in business. Meaning, in order for us to have good works, we don't need to make business a means to a different end.

Business itself is good. Business is not a distraction from our good works. What makes business morally good is not ethics and evangelism. And cultivating a healthy culture is also not what makes business good. The idea of owning and operating a business is itself a God-honoring endeavor in and of itself, apart from how it's run or what the owner does with the prophets. Business and profit are themselves vessels of God's mercy. Too many Christians approach business as a neutral zone that we can Christianize in order for it to be good. But it's already good. So how is business intrinsically good? In what way does business honor God directly? So even if it's being misused, the idea of free market economics, the idea of a profit, the idea of enterprise, of business, how is that idea intrinsically morally good? I have four things. First, business ownership is good because serving people is good. Business ownership is good because serving people is good.

So what is a business if not an organized way to serve somebody? What does a business exist for? A business exists to serve a customer. To have a business, you need somebody to serve. And having a customer is what makes the business. Every single business has that same purpose, to serve a customer. This exists for the sake of serving others. And what makes serving customers good is not indirect opportunities to do good for those customers. What makes serving a customer good is not indirect opportunities to evangelize to that customer or to demonstrate your ethics by your honest business dealings. Serving people is good in and of itself.

If somebody needs something done and you did that thing for them, you did a morally good thing. So if you built a house for somebody to live in, who needs a house? You did something that is morally good. If you machined a part that will go on an airplane and enable people to fly to where they're trying to go, you did something morally good. Serving people with physical needs is morally good in and of itself. the whole idea of even the office of the deacon is that physical ministries of mercy are morally good things. Serving a customer is good and so business is good. Second, business ownership is good because work is good. Serving a customer is good and work is good. God created us for work and in our work, in the act of working, we image God and demonstrate our dignity as image bearers. When your hands are dirty and your back is sweaty, or when your head is thinking and you're trying to solve problems, in those acts of labor, in those acts you are demonstrating, we find our glory as image bearers by reflecting our maker.

And one of the most fundamental ways that we do that is by applying ourselves to work. Now, what if you're demonstrating God's glory by working yourself and you're making it possible for others to do so by providing jobs for them? You're doing even more good things, right? Yes, creating jobs and putting people to work are good works. It's not just company culture that makes employment good or bad. Yes, a bad culture sucks and a business owner is wrong if he cultivates a bad culture. He may even be in sin by doing so, but employing people, giving them jobs is not morally neutral ground. Creating jobs is a good endeavor.

When you're giving people an opportunity to demonstrate their image-bearing quality as workers, You are doing something good. Because we find our glory in our work, by imaging our maker, work itself is morally good. And so business ownership is good. Serving customers is good, serving people, and working is good. And third, business ownership is good because progress and innovation are good. Progress and innovation are good. Material progress is God's blessing on mankind. So technological advancement in agriculture, medicine, transportation, hospitality, food processing, construction, and every industry is God demonstrating his mercy and kindness to humanity.

God is showing us his love and his care in these material blessings. And when we neglect the opportunities we have to be a part of God's design for human flourishing, We are neglecting godly opportunities for mercy. Business and free market economics have done more for extinguishing poverty, feeding the hungry, and raising living standards than any charity has ever accomplished. And it's done this by contributing, it has done this not by contributing money to charity, but through the act of improving business practices, elevating quality standards, and producing goods more efficiently. By acting like a business, business is making the lives of other people better.

And that's why all cities, including ours in Marysville, are always trying to attract business owners to start businesses in those cities. They know that cities with businesses increase the standard of living for the people in that city. Loving and serving the poor is what God calls us to do. And by enabling progress and innovation, business does exactly that. Elevating standards of living is good, and that's why business is good. And fourth, business ownership is good because enjoying the fruit of your labor is good. Enjoying the fruit of your labor is good. First Timothy 5.18, For the scripture says, You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain, and the labor deserves his wages."

This is a principle that Christ and the apostles build on. Or Ecclesiastes 5, 18 and 19, Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil this is the gift of God. Enjoying the fruit of your work is a gift from the Maker. Seeing profit and enjoying that profit are gifts from God. And actually not being able to enjoy the fruit of your labor, not being able to enjoy that profit is evil, the Bible says.

Because he asked these 221, because sometimes a person who has to cope with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. Something is amiss when a person works for something and then is not able to enjoy the fruit of his labor. Something is off. When God gives us the opportunity to enjoy His blessings, we should accept those opportunities with gratitude. It's not wasting your life to enjoy the gifts that God gives you. And if we neglect them, if we neglect the gift, we're neglecting the giver. Profit itself is not neutral, and it's not evil.

God's gifts never are. Profit is good, and so business is good. So business is good because serving people is good, work is good, innovation is good, and profit is good. Serving people, work, innovation, and profit. Those things are good, and so business is good. Business enterprise is where those four things intersect, making business itself very good. So that's the second main point. Business is good. So Jesus is God, business is good, and point number three is value is goal. Jesus is God, business is good, and value is goal. These other endeavors that Christian business owners pursue are of course not useless.

They are also good. ministry outside of business is obviously not a bad thing and and demonstrating our ethics and seeking opportunities for evangelism within our business is also very good and a healthy business culture that brings joy to your employees and customers is very very good all of these things are inescapable if you're a business owner who wants to be a consistent Christian So if you want to be a consistent Christian in business, you're gonna be doing these things as well But the goodness of business and profit does not depend on those things So even an unchristian business owner can be doing good works that God will get glory for and that God's common Grace applies over when he's building a business and doing those good things So like I already said, business and profit in and of themselves are vessels of God's mercy and blessing apart from any additional agendas that can be stacked onto it.

We are saved for good works, and building a business is a good work. One of the good works that God may have prepared beforehand for some of us to do. a business may be one of the good works that God prepared beforehand for some of us to do. A big portion of our Christian good works are to be directed at people. A big portion of our good works are to be directed at people. People are to be recipients of much of what goes under the heading of good works, whether in business or not. But people are the reason why every business exists. You cannot have a business if you're not serving people. And in some way, every business does have some unique mission depending on who your customers are or what value you're providing.

But before getting to any specificities, a business owner needs to understand the fundamental reason of enterprise, the mission that underlines all business. So I've already said that any business across any sector and any industry needs one thing in order for it to be considered a business. It's not a business license. You can do business underground. It's possible. Ask a Russian. It's not employees. You can be a one-man show. It's not profit. You're still a business, even if you're losing money. It's not even a product. you're able to sell someone else's product. What every business needs in order to be considered a business is a customer, a person to serve.

In order for a business to be a business, that business needs a person to serve, a customer. The mission of every business is to bring value to somebody else. A business exists for the sake of the customer to deliver value to a person, to another image bearer. Value is the goal of business. A business exists to deliver value to a customer, and the key word there is value. The entire business is built around delivering value. So what is value? What is value? And once again, we come across the concept of no neutrality. If we are to define value, we are to appeal to some sort of standard. So who says what is valuable?

By pronouncing judgment in our valuation, we are appealing to a standard. And if we are to deliver value, how do we know what is valuable? The standard of our interaction with all people, including a business owner's pursuit to deliver value to his customer, is also under the Lordship of Christ. The standard there is the Lordship of Christ. We define value by looking to Jesus. And Jesus summarized delivering value to others very succinctly in the golden rule. Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Whatever you wish others would do to you, do also to them.

There are some moralizing philosophers who criticize the golden rule because of its active positioning. The golden rule is positioned actively. They say the better position would be to leave people alone. It'd be better to say don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you. That'd be better than saying do to others what you want them to do to you. And I understand the draw there. We all want to be left alone and if people were simply to not do to others what they don't want done to them, the world might be a better place to some extent. But if that is That's all we did. If we only did not do to others what we don't want them to do to us, we would not ever be fruitfully filling the earth.

In fact, we would be worse off than we are today. Our lives would be worse off if we only left people alone. We are to do good for other people, and that is an active positioning. And business enterprise fits into this mold perfectly. Business is the opposite of leaving people alone. Business is proactive. Business owners are instigators. They are initiators. They deliver value. They supply because they believe in supply economics. comes first, work first, money later. A business is an organized way to love your neighbor under this golden rule mold. The business owner is the one who initiates. He risks. He goes first. Before ever receiving any money, he's the one who pours out his money, his time, his energy, his strength. Because he cares about making people's lives better.

He cares about delivering value to the customer. And his standard for better is that active nature of the golden rule. The standard for value is the active nature of the golden rule. This is where I think many Christian business owners fall short or miss the mark. They don't really care about their customers. They don't care enough about their customers. They don't care to deliver value to the people they are serving. They're using their customers as a means to a different end. Whether it's directly a selfish end or maybe an indirect end to fund some other sort of ministry or some other sort of endeavor. But the customer, that image-bearer, that person becomes a means to an end.

And if we understand and believe that Jesus is God, that business is good, and that value is goal, then we are to care about excelling in our service to our customers in whatever area our business is in. We are to care about serving our customers really well, about exceeding expectations, and about winning people's business, about having customers want to do business with us. Customers are not a means to an end for a business owner. Customers are the entire point. That is the end of enterprise. The end of enterprise is to deliver value to a customer. Period. Stop. Because Jesus is sovereign over business, We don't need to try to manipulate our business towards some other irrelevant end.

We don't need to justify our intentions in business with a different virtuous pursuit. In fact, we may not even try. Yes, it's good to use money and profit for charity and generosity, absolutely. But that's not what makes business good and neither is it its goal. The objective for enterprise is serving a customer in a profitable way. We are to build business in order to deliver value to people. And when we excel in our business by making a quality part and delivering that quality part to our customer on time with good service, when we excel in the actual work that the business is doing, instead of trying to make that work a means to a different end, then we are shining our light.

That is good work because Jesus is God and business is good and value is goal. I'm going to end with a quote from Martin Luther. Martin Luther had this to say about Christians in business. The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship. God is interested in good craftsmanship. So there you go. That is building businesses. Now Q&A, if there are any. So anyhow, in college we talked about the golden rule and you're talking about that. Every culture has it in the negative form. Every religion has it in the negative form.

Only Christianity is the only one who has it in the positive form. So it's kind of interesting that how counter to the rest of it, and it's also I guess another way to say this is the way, and showing that when we are putting others first in that process, the blessing that comes from that. So a follow-up question I had for you is, not everyone's called to business, not everyone's called to start or be an entrepreneur or something like that, but I think, as you rightly pointed out, culture doesn't thrive, our communities don't thrive without thriving businesses. We don't have what we have, we don't have schools, we don't have thriving churches, we don't have all those things without good businesses.

So how do the non-business people, how do you see the non-business people supporting business people, not just buying their goods, but other ways. What would you say to that? First point, I thought that's great. And that is why it is the western free market economy that has created so much wealth coming out of a Christian worldview. And any kind of wealth in that nature that we even see on the east is from British colonies or other colonies that that that was transported to. But that actual wealth and goodness where human flourishing happens comes out of that golden rule approach. Yeah. So people who are not in business or are not called to that or called to something else.

First, I do think that the very least is for them to understand that that is also good work. So the same way how a preacher or a pastor to understand that things that other people are doing that is not preaching and shepherding people is good work. That is also good things that God has called those people to do. And then he is to encourage them in that in the same way just because you know somebody else is in the mission field or is has some active duty in a church ministry formal setting and somebody else doesn't. Doesn't mean that they are maybe doing better work, but that distinction is important. Second, I do think that even if we are in business, even if we're not in business, especially like as teachers, so at the school or as parents, cultivating a a heart for caring about the thing itself, I think is really crucial.

And business gets really busy, and you get bogged down with all of the different things. And so that focus of delivering value to a customer gets lost really fast. And so to cultivate that as a standard for people who would go into business to care for the thing, to care about delivering good value to a customer, and invest your time and strength and energy in figuring out those details, I think is important. And so having that kind of culture that, hey, whatever it is we're doing, we're caring for the thing, and we're not just using this thing as a means to an end, applies in different spheres, including business.

So we have not so much a brick and mortar business, but more of a digital business. So my question is twofold. First is, do you see any distinction between delivering or even over-delivering value to minister to your customer in a brick and mortar situation where you meet them, shake hands, give them an actual product versus a digital product, something they can download or experience digitally. And then second question is when it comes to serving a customer who is difficult to serve, even if they profess Christ, do you just go to Colossians 3.23 as unto the Lord? What is your mindset on that when a customer is difficult to serve and doesn't really appreciate what you're trying to do as you serve them.

Yeah. So regarding brick and mortar or digital, I think the experience is different, and it's a different approach. But I think a digital market expansion has done so much more good. The fact that we're able to learn skills or trade on a video course, as opposed to having to sit down with the teacher. That teacher is able to exponentially ship out his knowledge, and so much more people are able to learn that. I think that is a lot more of a good thing. So that's a good thing, maximize. Sure, there's a different experience, right? So there's something that a personal touch could bring that a digital thing maybe can't bring, but there's a wind that happens on the digital front that a personal front cannot do.

And so there's different kinds of good. I think maybe quantity of goodness is maximized on the digital front. So that's that. Regarding a difficult customer, I think that's a case by case. I don't think that the customer is always right. And so depending on, and that also needs nuance and definitions. So a lot of business owners don't understand who their customer is. They just think whoever wants me to do something for them is my customer. And so then they try to become everything to everybody. And by doing that, they're not anything to anybody. And so understanding who your customer is is important. So when I say delivering value to your customer, well, that needs definition.

Who is my customer? And so even in the same sector, the same industry, your customer can be segmented, this kind of customer. So like the vendor beckons do remodel work. Like production builders are not their customer. It's a whole different type. Like we do production, we do like metal servicing, metal products for production builders, mixed use buildings. Remodel contractors are not our customer, right? It's a different approach. And so even though it's the same industry, you need to understand that. And then even within the same, like this person is actually one of your target customers, I still don't think the customer's always right, in the sense that that customer can try to sabotage your delivering of value to all your other customers.

And so a customer can be creating all of your problems, and there does come a point where this is actually your target customer, but because I'm trying to deliver value to all of my customers, I need to tell this customer that I'm not gonna do business with them anymore. That is not some kind of, you know, I'm damning you, that has nothing to do with that. It's like, hey, I'm trying to serve all my customers, and you are sabotaging that effort. So I don't think that is unchristian behavior that still falls in line with delivering value to customers.

I guess as I listen to you, I guess I wanna, I have some clarifying questions, because I wanna understand you correctly. And I'm trying to weave my thoughts together, so it's not like multiple questions. So businesses, and correct me if I misquoted you, businesses are a God honoring endeavor even if the business is misused, I think you said. So what I'm trying to wrap my mind around is as you were talking tonight, I was trying to gauge in my mind is he talking about any business owner or Christian business owners? Because like I'm gonna reverse the neutral lies you said, what if a Christian business owner or any business owner let's say an unbelieving business owner, creates a top of the notch product.

And all they do is make a great product, give it to the customers blessed by it, and does nothing else, let's say a Christian business owner, with that. There's no desire to share Christ with your coworkers, to use it as a platform to maybe say, hey, I'm gonna take 10% of my earnings and give it to a ministry to help that ministry along. Let's say all I do is make a good product, which is, I think the lie you were saying was Christ does not care about what a, the lie was that Christ doesn't care about a business does.

Like would that be honoring God? Get to God if all I did as a Christian is I'm gonna make a product, sell it, give it to a customer and end it there and not go into those other areas. I'm reversing what you said. And then, is it possible for a business owner who's not a believer to honor God, even if they produce a good product, but like I'm thinking of, for example, Ted Turner, built an empire. We all love Turner Classic movies. CNN was the first cable news network out. He did a good thing. But as I understand it, he's an atheist. He probably cutthroat people to get to the top. did Ted Turner honor God by delivering a good product to customers even though he himself was not honoring God. So I guess I'm trying to wrap my mind around some of the statements you said. I think as a Christian business owner we should absolutely produce a top-notch product, absolutely, and then use what God blesses us with to bless others, whatever that looks like however you're led and not just stop at the product.

But I guess I'm trying to, I need clarity, I guess, on some of the things you're saying between unbelievers, believers, and even some of the neutral things you said. I mean, I hope every Christian business owner wants to produce a good product, or they're not going to last, as you know. So I'm wondering if you could just shed some more light on that. Yeah. So I want to take the second one first. I think that one might be quicker, maybe. I think there's a difference between me honoring God or God being honored, right? So a pagan, an atheist, I don't think honors God, but God can still be honored with the work that that person does, right?

So Cyrus, we heard this morning, maybe did not have any intention to honor God by dismissing the Jews to go to Jerusalem, that was his policy. But God was honored in what he did, right? And so God used that. And so you could have a greedy, abusive tyrant of a man who runs the oil industry and does wicked things in his business practices, right? cheats and steals and mistreats employees, cuts corners, all of that. And all of the oil that he is producing is still doing a lot of good things in the industry overall with everything that oil accomplishes. And God is honored in that, in God making rain shine on the good or go on the good and the bad and the sunshine on the good and the bad.

in that common grace, the motives might be wrong in that person, in that pagan, but God is still honored in the good that is a result of that, because God is working in all of it, right? So I think there's a distinction between the person honoring God or God being honored. That man will not get any credit. He's gonna be damned in hell if he's not a believer. But God is still honored in that work. In fact, through that person's success, they become more accountable to God for not honoring him. So there is actually, God is honoring himself. That's a good distinction between, the person is not honoring God, but God is honoring, God is getting honor, including by heaping up judgment on that person who he is enabled to do this, blessed this thing that other people can be thankful for, that other people can go to God with, and be increasing the accountability of the guy who is not acknowledging how he was able to do it.

That is honoring to God when God makes men more accountable for how they should be attending to him. Yeah, so I'm really trying to hone in on that distinction that the things that the business is doing, So serving customers, providing jobs, or the business owner working himself, instigating progress and innovation, and then creating profit. Those things are good, and so we don't need to add other things to it in order for the thing itself to be good. We can make that thing better, we can make it even better by adding other things to it, but that thing itself is not a neutral zone, it's not not evil or good, and it depends what I do with it.

The thing itself is good. What ends up happening is people pervert and twist it and use what God intended for good into evil, right? But the thing itself is good. And that's what I'm trying to get at there. And so the same distinction there goes for the Christian business owner who is focused on making a good product and then just stops right there.

I have two maybe answers to that. One is I'm saying that that itself is also a good thing. And in that case, because he is a believer, and if he understands that he is honoring God by that product, it's not just that God is honored, but he is actually honoring God. By that physical material serving of a customer, whether it's a product or a service, whatever he's doing, the physical good itself is honoring God. And so that Christian business owner is honoring God at that level without them having to do something else with this profits or with this culture or something else in order for this business to be good. So that's what I'm getting at.

But then the other aspect is, I do not think that there are enough Christian business owners who care about a top-notch product.

I don't think there are enough, I think there are way more, way more pagans and atheists who care about good quality products there are Christians. And I think that is because Christians see it as this neutral zone and then try to just use business as a means to a different end. And so they want to get out of this thing as quickly as possible. So then to be able to do something else with it that is actually more important or got honoring. And so okay, I'm just gonna sell as cheaper product as I can to as many people so that I could use that profit to find my ministry or my mission. Or I'm just gonna use an opportunity. So I'm saying that I don't think there's enough Christians in business who care about the actual value that is delivered. And then if they do and they're able to then do other things, I also do think that I said that there that a Christian would be inconsistent as a Christian if he cared about value in the product but mistreated his employees or did not ever talk about Jesus to anybody, right? Or didn't do any of those other things? I

think he would be inconsistent as a Christian, so he should be doing those things, but I'm trying to say that in the sphere of business, his focus is on delivering value to a customer, not using the business for those other endeavors. Yeah, you are trying to hone in on by separating out what God cares about and that is that is super valuable because of how many people who don't think that God cares about actually making a good product but at the same time which is your your stating it as it would be inconsistent I like can't imagine that this guy exists who understands what you're saying about making a great product to please God and he's an adulterer and he's greedy.

So God only, I know that Jesus is Lord but he only is Lord over this good product not over my giving to the church not over my support of not over telling my co-worker who asked me why I have this hope well I can't tell you I'm just making a good product. That's not my focus. Yeah so I have trouble imagining that there is a person who grasps the core of what you're describing about value and business who would not see that there's value in other things as well in their life. Right. Where I do see a lot of people on the other side. Right. Where a lot of people value all those other things but have a hard time understanding that the actual business of delivering value to a customer is also God honoring. So that inconsistency does happen all the time.

I mean, living in the South, I remember the phone book would literally publish a Christian, or not them, somebody else would publish a Christian, Yellow Pages. And I'll be honest, like a lot of times, just because somebody put a fish on their business, I'm like, I don't care if there's a fish or not, I need my plumbing fixed. And I want it done well. Amen. You know? So, and maybe this was more of a Southern culture thing, but people, I could see where people use that to get indoors, but maybe they're not the best at what they do. Even us at MATA, the way we care for our planes, our facility, everything we do is top notch, because we want to deliver a product to our students.

We don't want to be sloppy with how we present ourselves. So even in our service ministry is what we do, we don't want to have a sloppy product. And that should mark us as Christians, we should be excellent with whatever we deliver and continue to use that platform, whatever God gives us, to advance his kingdom, whatever that looks like as you're led. And not just, I believe you shouldn't just stop at the product but keep moving forward towards an eternal purpose, because that's why we're here as well. So, it's, I would say in that way, Running a business while producing an excellent product for a customer could be a means to an end, which is honoring the Lord and advancing his kingdom as he allows you to do that and convicts you to do so through that business, you know, the work you've been given to do.

Yeah, everything is a means to the end of honoring God, absolutely. Yeah, whatever we're doing. And that's the end there, that it's the direct means of honoring God. It's not a stepping stone to something. I think most people, not just here but in general, they would agree with that. It's good to serve others and that business, you need a customer, you wanna serve them. I think sometimes where, and just hear your thoughts on this too, where many, in particular, Christians can maybe stumble, is oftentimes they just wanna make money and business is kind of one of those things where it's like, okay, We'll talk about serving customers and bringing value, but then at the end of the day, there's money involved, and there's potential prosperity involved.

And so what are your thoughts on, because it does seem like, majority of the time, people go into business in order to make some money, right? And of course, to do that, the only way to do that is by building value and serving your customer and all that. So just your thoughts on having money as a motive to go into business. Yeah. I think one is that a lot of people misunderstand what profit is. And so people think that profit is the owner's paycheck. That is what it is. That's not what it is. That's what it could be used for. So profit could be used for the owner to feed his family. It could be used for other things.

But what profit is, is the customers telling you that you're delivering good value. So if you're making a lot of profit, the customers are telling you, we want more of what you're doing. If you're not making any profit, the customers are telling you, you're doing a bad job. So either your quality sucks, or your prices are too high, or for whatever reason, you're doing a bad job. So either align your prices to your level of service, or increase your service to align with your prices. So your profit is not a paycheck, it is communication from the customer. And so who the profit benefits is the customer. The customer is the one who signals the owner of forced service.

Hey, I want more of this or I want less of this. That's why whenever prices go up, people always think it's price gouging. Well, what it's saying is the market is saying that there is a big need here. And so let's flood the market with this product because there are high margins here, right? And so the business owners, entrepreneurs are flooding through that area where they're able to make profit because the customers are telling them that they want more of that stuff. So when understanding that profit is communication from the customer, that's a little bit of a different approach and so even when you're trying to pursue profit, you align it with still delivering value. But then making or pursuing money even as as whether you're a business owner or a worker, I still don't think necessarily wrong. So the Bible has a lot to say about the fruit of your labor being a good thing.

So kind of what the things I was saying as well or feeding yourself, the stomach drives the man, right? This is the way God has designed our interactions in our world is that pursuing fruit is a good thing. It is not a bad thing and so we ought to be pursuing what is fruitful. And so if wealth and money is a part of that, that is something that is good to pursue. However, I do think that money and wealth is a weight of glory that is heavy, that not everybody is able to carry. And so like majesty, like praise, like fame, that is heavy. People can crumble under that really easy. And so it takes a lot of Christian maturity to be able to continue being faithful even with a lot of wealth. And so that requires Christian maturity where God is strengthening you in that. And so the pursuit of fruitfulness is a good thing. God wants us to pursue fruitfulness. And God also wants us to be able to handle these heavy baskets of fruit.

Well, I think that to Max's point, if somebody got into business and said they're not interested in the money, then either they're going into a nonprofit or they're not going to be in business very long because they're not going to be focused on it enough to actually stay in business. You touched on it and I think it's also connected to some of the things that we talked about identifying the customer. So if the profits are not there, maybe you have wrongly identified your potential customer. So if you're looking to chase the price to the bottom, then and you're trying to be cheap, so like you're trying to sell for the cheapest amount possible because you think that's going to attract more clients, but you're doing a really bad job, people aren't going to fund that either.

So it really is, talking about that. Another thing I was thinking about is customers, clients, and also community members, in this case. So Andy asked about, what if I'm not a business owner? Well, I mean, our community has a bunch of different talents. Some of them, people don't even know about, You know, like there's things that people do around us that I don't even know. Like this person was a really good athlete or whatever. And so our community members at TEC and ECS also potentially our clients. And then do we have a responsibility as community members? And what got me thinking about this even more was today.

So we had a phone issue in our family. And I'm not tech support. The young ladies up here, like Lila Massey, were having some phone issues this evening. I told them, well, if you want some help with that, you should ask my grandkids. But Ian fixed the phone even more than the T-Mobile person did. But today, Ian had a car problem. And so I couldn't really address the phone issue, but the car issue, now I have skills there. And so as a community, we should be trying to do a good job. But just because we don't necessarily get paid for that, Ian didn't get paid for working on Teresa's phone, and I didn't get paid for working on Ian's car, or any of the rest of the things that so many fingers go out and do, but that's part of our business in our group, so.

Right, right, yeah, so like living in community in a family or in this broader church body is good, and that's different than your day job, than the work that you're doing. And so I think, like, to Andy's question as well about being in that community, well, in that interaction, you're able to be a customer. You're able to be a good customer or a lousy customer. You're able to be a helpful customer that could help that business owner do a better job or sabotage his business, right? So the kind of customer you're able to be in that community Also affects a lot of it has a lot to do with it. So yeah For sake of time we should not do very many more. Let's do one more last one. So What?

Should women think about business? So I was thinking about this as you were talking as like, okay Well, this just kind of sounds like Christian virtue here and that we definitely The women do not want to be feminists if they want to honor God and then we totally swing to the Like anything that looks remotely close to business bad terrible um unless it's like baking bread or something and then they go out of business real quick because You get tired of it anyways, and so um So should women be pursuing this in the same way. Also, side note, the Proverbs 31 passage, talking about how she perceives that her merchandise is valuable, that there is like biblical context for this, but is it like, does it have to be connected to what the man is doing? Like it's always her supporting this business, or is it like, well, we have multiple businesses doing this together, or is it okay you need to make sure that everything else is done and then you can have a little business or like how how does that look? Yeah you're you're

asking me to give a hold of talk. This is not an answer to a question this is this is a series. So in short like in summary in Proverbs 31 it's not just merchandise that is valuable, it's land that she's buying. She's buying land. Like, a lot of men aren't able to buy land, and this woman is buying land and making a good deal on this land purchase, right? And so there is a lot there that is, I think, much deeper than just like a side hustle, right? The way it's presenting that Proverbs 31 woman is like this big household executive who is running a lot of things. And it's much more than just selling arts and crafts on the side.

And so clearly the Bible has that as a category and even something that the Queen Mother is telling her son to look for in this virtuous woman. And so there's that. The Bible does give us the orientation, the direction of where the woman is to be faced, right? So she is to be homeward faced in her pursuits, in her work, and depending on her season of life as well, if she has little kids, that's different than if she has big kids. So what that looks like in her homeward orientation will be different as well. But I do think that where the man's assignment in going out and conquering, taking dominion, and the woman given to him as a help meet in that makes it where the woman's work is not to be in competition with the man's work, but it's to be a help meet to his work.

So she can't be, I'm building my career, So you have to stop on your career, right? That is different. And so even her business pursuits are guided in a way where her husband trusts her. She is doing good to him like Proverbs 31 says, not evil, right? So her husband is trusting her and everything she's doing is good to him. It's not sabotaging what he's trying to do. So kind of taking some of these, and this is a quick summary, but taking some of those categories, I think there is a lot for a woman to be able to do and that she should be doing in business endeavors, but depending on her season of life, depending on where she is unmarried under her dad's house, married without kids, married with kids, married with older kids, all of that context is different and it will affect her intentions and her pursuits.

But wanting a virtuous wife, there is room for her buying and selling real estate, which is pretty business-y. We'll do a series. Women in business. All right. I'm going to pray. We'll wrap it up. Father, thank you so much for your kindness. You are so good to us. You are so big. And we are not you. We are separate from you. We are distinct from you, and that is why we're able to look to you and wonder. We're able to look to you and be amazed and be delighted and be curious because we are distinct from you. And you have given us a lot of work to do. There's a lot of all sorts of different kinds of work to do. And building businesses and pursuing profit and serving customers is one of those works, of those good works. And we pray that you give us delight in our labor, joy in our toil.

We pray for this gift from you that we would love work and we would love serving people and we'd be able to do so profitably in a way that honors you and in a way that brings much good to much people. Bless us here at Trinity. May we apply ourselves to good works in Marysville. May we apply what we know with our head and what we love in our heart into our hands and may we get to work and have zeal and roll. In Jesus name, amen.

I found out after last Sunday that "for such a time as this" is considered Christian cliche. And, I can see that. If there’s one thing that describes our modern promotion machine is that everything is overused, oversold, overhyped. And yet I say, let's make this cliche great again! Or, it'd also be fine to forget the phrase because we're too busy building and battling with God’s blessing.

Providentially my Omnibus class started reading Of Plymouth Plantation this weekend, which is THE book that chronicles the Pilgrims, their move across The Pond (on the Mayflower) to establish Plymouth Colony and to lay the foundations of our country. One of the things that struck me the first time I read that was that founders don't have a lot of time to journal. You’ve got to get some seed in the ground and a roof over your head before you can capture the glories of the story. Like the Reformation, it was “a period of crass and heroic trauma, of emergency living” (a description in Angels in the Architecture).

Ezra-Nehemiah is THE book that records the Re-founding of Israel, using information from the time, put together later for the encouragement of God’s people in their “such a time.” It’s still got such profit for our “such a time.”

Ezra wrote the books we call Ezra and Nehemiah probably somewhere around 90 to 100 years after Cyrus' decree. Ezra himself returned to rebuild under Artaxerxes, the fifth Persian king after Cyrus. As a scribe Ezra was a document professional, with a special emphasis on the Book of the Law of the Lord. That said, he cared about letters and lists concerning the rebuilding of his nation.

There are three parts to Ezra 1 with a few relevant implications that stir us up even though we’re not 6th century BC captives in Babylon.

Ezra opens with the when and the why of this history. It goes back more than 70 years when the word of the LordRD by the mouth of Jeremiah prophesied that Judah would be taken captive by the Babylonians. God judged Judah's sin, then God would judge Babylon's sin, and bring the Jews back to the covenant land. Ezra doesn't refer to it, but we know that Isaiah prophesied that God appointed a king named Cyrus to deliver the people.

Cyrus defeated Babylon in October of 539 so the first year is probably 538 BC when the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus so that Cyrus got the ball rolling with a proclamation, a policy to be spread throughout all his kingdom and that was put into writing. It was official, and it was recorded, which turned out to be very important proof at a later point. “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever (and whenever) He will” (Proverbs 21:1).

The decree names the The LORD, the God of heaven. How did Cyrus know these titles? Based on this proclamation one is tempted to think that Cyrus converted to worshipping Yahweh.

Archeologists found a copy of Cyrus’s foreign policy. Ezra includes the relevant part here in verses 2-4, and hold on to that idea of the "relevant part.”

The “Cyrus Cylinder" was discovered in 1879 in modern day Iraq, and it reveals a couple things. First, Cyrus' decree applied to all the peoples who had been taken captive, not just the Jews. The decree referred to the LORD because it was “consistent policy…to use the title of the god or gods recognized by the local population” (Williamson). All peoples were permitted to return to their lands with their images and restart their worship. Second, the cylinder shows that Cyrus credited the Babylonian god Marduk for his success. So the peoples were asked to have their gods bless Cyrus' god(s). The more the merrier, Persian pluralism at its finest.

CNN called the Cylinder policy the “Ancient blueprint for Middle East peace” (when it toured five US cities in 2013, see here, of course the same article says “After peacefully conquering Babylon in 539 B.C.”).

“The Cyrus Cylinder sets up a model to run a multifaith, multifaceted, diverse society, leaving a model of the Middle East as a unit and what it could ideally be” (Neil MacGregor, TED Talk)

One of the reasons that Herodotus may not make a bigger deal out of Israel is not only that they were a small group but, from his perspective, their return under Cyrus was nothing special. Numerous peoples were free to return to their lands. It was a political move by Cyrus, not a religious one.

Verses 2-4 are a selected part of the policy, and the divine titles used in the decree are more like bureaucratic fill-in-the-blanks.

Why did Ezra's “copy and paste” make Cyrus sound so pro-Jew? First, because the diplomatic boilerplate filled in the relevant info for each people-group: their god(s) name and place. The house of God that is in Jerusalem probably meant little to Cyrus on a personal level.

But second, Ezra knew what Cyrus' decree included. It didn't have to be exhaustively Yahwehnian to be fulfilling Yahweh's purpose. It was fulfilling the LORD’s prophetic promise. The LORD has purposeS, plural, and Ezra focused on the relevant parts for Israel's joy. God moves in political ways.

The same key word is used in verse 5 of many as it was in verse 1 of one: stirred. The divine hand moved some men to change their lives, for the harder and more memorable mission.

Verses 5-6 introduce the a few categories of persons and some of their supplies. The houses of Judah and Benjamin were the two not-lost tribes of Israel. The northern kingdom, with 10 tribes, were taken captive by Assyria before Judah fell to Babylon. The heads of the fathers' houses were some of the family patriarchs. All who were about them were those who were not planning to move, though many gave support.

The minority were limited to everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild. Again, not everyone wanted to leave “captivity,” It is reasonable that many righteous Jews remained, even if they gave aid to the adventurers (see verse 4).

Verse 6 gives a “Second Exodus” feel.

Verses 7-11 refer to the items from the temple that had been taken, and verses 9-11 in particular give the (partial) inventory. The Jews didn't have images of their God; the LORD forbade images in the Second Commandment. But they did have consecrated and costly items that belonged with the temple worship, and Cyrus had them brought out of the archives.

Sheshbazzar is named as the prince of Judah. He's mentioned again in chapter 5 related to this first group of returners (Ezra 5:14, 16), but otherwise we don't have much to go on. Zerubbabel, first named in 2:2, gets more attention. Sheshbazzar must have been the first governor.

The numbers don't add up in verse 11. We might wonder why numbers at all. There is a book of the Bible titled, "Numbers." Ezra chapter 2 is Numbers-City. But keeping count of basins and bowls and vessels? The specifics won't let loose that God is in the details more than the devil; He gave them their stuff back.

And God brought up the exiles from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

God hasn’t give us, as Christians in the United States, a 70 year promise that a re-founding of our country will happen. But, actually, unlike many of our Christian brothers in other nations, we can, like Ezra, recognize God's providences in the persecutions and travels and wars and troubles and sacrifices that increase the thankfulness of those who serve God. Our country's founding was explicitly for God's sake, and also not everyone participated with pure hearts before God.

But Ezra's record encouraged people to worship God, and to be thankful to God for how God moved in political ways, whether or not all those so moved knew the source of their motivation. Ezra's record also assumes that global powers can, even should, recognize God's power over the globe. Every king/president/governor lives and moves and has his being by God's stirring.

God moves in political ways. He still works and wills for His pleasure. He still stirs. Doesn’t that stir you up to take heart?

The Lord, the God of heaven, is building a spiritual house of living stones to offer spiritual sacrifices through Jesus Christ. You, believers, are those stones. You are sojourners called to good deeds that glorify God, even when others speak against you as evildoers. The Lord will give you what you need.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

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 spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: (Ezra 1:1)

What a loaded caravan of cargo ships is this first sentence.

Left out of most English translations is that the very first word of the Hebrew sentence is the conjunction, "and." Not only does it threaten no vital grammatical rule, it is often the case that biblical history books begin as a continuation of something before. Ezra picks up at a certain point on the timeline.

And a comparison of 2 Chronicles 36:22 with Ezra 1:1 show them to be verbatim. These are called “catch lines,” a practice of scribes to connect two separate scrolls by content. Ezra not only comes after 2 Chronicles in our copies of God's Word, but proceeds with the next part of the history.

Speaking of our copies of God's Word, what we have as Ezra and then Nehemiah were originally one book in Hebrew, and when first divided (by Origen in the 3rd century AD), called First Ezra and Second Ezra. What is also understandable, but somewhat unhelpful, is that the events of the book of Esther take place between Ezra 6 and 7, a space of almost 60 years. For that matter, though the book has his name, we don't meet Ezra until Ezra 7, which is about 80 years after the decree of Cyrus where the book begins.

So where are we?

Ezra 1:1 gives the When and a Why. Our literary time machine takes us back to the first year of Cyrus king of Persian and explains that what comes next is so that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled.

The prophet Jeremiah announced the captivity of Israel to Babylon and that their captivity would be 70 years. Habakkuk prophesied the same judgment on Judah through the Chaldeans/Babylon as they would become a great power (Habakkuk 1) and then that afterward Babylon would be judged with multiple woes for their wickedness (Habakkuk 2). So the Jews were captives in Babylon and it is not a Babylonian king that released the Jews, God used the Persian king Cyrus to defeat the Babylonians and then he released the Jews. The LORD revealed all this before the captivity:

Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, (Jeremiah 25:12 ESV)

“For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. (Jeremiah 29:10 ESV)

For that matter, though Ezra doesn’t refer to it, we know that Isaiah named the king who would restore God’s people around 150 years beforehand.

who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,

We talked about these dates as we worked through Habakkuk.

And then:

Under Zerubbabel's effort the Jews rebuilt the altar and then two years later, 535, began rebuilding the temple, but they were discouraged and stopped in 534. They resumed in 520 (when Darius was the king of Persia, a great military officer who served Cambyses who was a son of Cyrus) and didn't finish until 516.

In 486 Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes) becomes king, the king that Esther married a few years later. It was under Xeres' son, Artaxerxes, that Ezra was commissioned to return in 458 (so Esther was probably Artaxerxes' step-mother, and may have helped Nehemiah get his job as cupbearer). Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem in the 20th year of Artexerxes (Nehemiah 2:1), 444 BC. The Ezra-Nehemiah documentation was composed sometime soon after.

So in terms of the events of Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther:

As for why we don’t have Esther in between, well, it would have to divide Ezra-Nehemiah, again originally one book and probably written by the same person.

Who was that? All good signs point to Ezra (at least as primarily responsible). As we’ll see, he was a scribe by trade, which gave him not only concern for God’s Law but likely gave him access to various documents. Ezra and Nehemiah include a variety of sources, for example, even in Ezra 1, the written decree from Cyrus and an inventory of items brought back to Jerusalem.

For some additional context, the names of these Persian kings may sound familiar:

The Battle of Thermopylae took place in late August 480 BC, when King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans held off Xerxes, and this lines up between Ezra 6-7.

And for context on the broader world scene:

We’ve got to get about 50,000 Judeans about 900 miles from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild their way of worship.

Why should we take a year (or likely more) of Sunday sermons to study these books?

The same argument works for any OT Scripture. Especially in our current age that not only is bad at knowing where we came from but sits up on our progressive high-horse named Pride&Prejudice, these inspired history books are profitable for teaching and training in righteousness that we'd be equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

We're not all at the same level of grasping God’s sovereignty. It’s a doctrine that is hard enough to swallow as true and even then sometimes seems irrelevant for our choices. We are all barraged by the propaganda of The Things That Are Seen.

Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther leave no doubt that everything has a theological interpretation. Each king, brick, and bowl of gold was put in place by God. Global powers and individual hearts are moved by God.

“The two centuries of the Persian empire were among the most formative periods of Jewish history” (Kidner), including the allowance and some financing for the return. “The LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus.” We may not know every moment what the Lord is up to, but we must be mindful of “Him who is invisible” (see Hebrews 11:27).

Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther demonstrate that divine restoration is not quick, rarely clean, and usually accompanied by resistance.

It would take the average person about 3 hours for a non-rushed read of all three of these books. It would take around 90 years if you lived them. And in order to read the story you wouldn't need to travel, by foot or beast, 900 miles. Plus, there's questions about accepting the money of pagan kings; "he who takes the king's coin..." and all that. What about those who didn’t want to return because they’d built themselves a decent life in Babylon?

Want reformation? Ready for oxen in the stall (Proverbs 14:4)? Abundant blessings require backbone to carry.

Judah’s religious life could not have been more disrupted, especially since the altar and the temple were so crucial. And the first thing the first returnees do is build the altar then the temple for sake of worship. As repeated as anything in these books is prayer, and multiple examples are prayers of confession. The Lord is the one “with whom we have to do” (see Hebrews 4:13).

In Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther religious identity, defined by the priority of God's Word and worship, is the key to the kingdom.

Ezra “had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel” (Ezra 7:10). While Nehemiah was governor, Ezra and others “read from the Book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense so that the people understood the reading” (Nehemiah 8:8). The Book was relevant, and also some new applications were needed. But the Book was the standard.

Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther rally us toward a better future by stirring up our faith to work.

Not all the Jews returned from Babylon. Not all the prophecies were fulfilled, including promises of a new Davidic king, a new palace, and Israel ruling over the other nations (see Jeremiah 30:8-9, 18; Isaiah 49:22-23; even Habakkuk 2:14).

But Aslan (as it were) is on the move.

Where is Jesus in Ezra-Nehemiah-Esther? He’s about 400 years out from Bethlehem, in Judea. He wasn’t born in Babylon, and as the Messiah He remains the object of their ultimate hope.

Remember, “the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). And pray, “But now, O God, strengthen my hands” (Nehemiah 6:9), “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

On Friday as a plane landed in San Francisco a flight attendant said, "Have a blessed evening.” This caused the editor of national, left-wing magazine to have a fit about the dangers of “creeping Christian nationalism.” Ha!

May the Lord bless YOU to bless so palpably for such a time as this.

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28–29 ESV)

The end of the epistle, all of Paul to Titus has been heard (or will be by the end of this message). What remains on Paul's mind for Titus and for Titus' mission for Crete? What should we, the hearers of the letter, remember and take away with us?

To finish this series is not to complete our work, but sends us out with grace for good.

I love the great Greek word spoude. Remember, it means zeal. It opposes reluctance. And Paul uses a form of it twice in his last words.

It was almost time for Titus to take up a new station.

When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. (Titus 3:12 ESV)

Paul was about to send a replacement for Titus. Paul left Titus on Crete for the purpose of establishing elders in all the churches (Titus 1:5). That's not only a large enough work geographically, it had consequences generationally. That said, apparently Paul didn't want Titus to stay.

Either Artemas or Tychicus would replace him. Also apparently Paul didn't know which one it would be at the time of sending the letter; the replacement would be the carrier. (As it turns out, Tychicus went to Ephesus according to 2 Timothy 4:12, so Artemas went to Crete.)

And then Paul wanted Titus to show some spoude: do your best (the imperative spoudason), “make every effort” (NASB), to make his way to Nicopolis, that is, "Victory City" (nike = victory + polis = city) or "Win Town.” Paul was on his way to the west side of Greece for the winter, as a strategic place, but also to avoid traveling during the tough winter season.

Two more men are named; probably making at least a three-fold group of travelers, two of which would only have a short lay-over on Crete.

Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. (Titus 3:13 ESV)

Do your best is another cognate of spoude (the adverb spoudaios). So in other words, "zealously send these two guys with full support."

Supporting a lawyer has biblical warrant. Zenas—not mentioned anywhere else in the NT—is a Greek name, so possibly he knew Roman law, though some speculate that he worked in Jewish law, making him more likely to be poor, and therefore need support.

Apollos is more well known, mentioned by Paul in Acts, and one of the favorite preachers among the Corinthians (see 1 Corinthians 1:12). Zenas and Apollos were going places, and Paul urged Titus to organize sending hospitality.

It is starting to get repetitive.

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. (Titus 3:14 ESV)

How many times do you have to say it, or hear it, for it to sink in? I've read one book that says “people need to hear the vision seven times before they really hear it for the first time.” We still live in a target rich environment of forgetfulness, so reminders almost always hit something.

Not only are good works the theme of Titus, this phrase is exactly the same as in Titus 3:8. Learn is the verb form of disciple; let this be the pattern, the path a man follows. Devote is giving one's time and/or resources to the thing. Get after it.

In a context where Paul just instructed Titus to "see that they lack nothing," there are cases of urgent need.

Without good works we are unfruitful. So, stated alternatively, fruitfulness is good works. You might get tired of productivity talk, but let us not grow weary of productivity itself. God sent Jesus to redeem us from unlawful works that we would be His people and zealous (in Titus 2:14 it's not spoude, but a synonym) for good works.

Greetings, both from some and to some.

All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. (Titus 3:15 ESV)

The you in the first part of the verse is singular, and the imperative is also addressed to a specific person, Titus.

Who was with Paul saying Hi to Titus? He was likely in Corinth, headed shortly to Nicopolis.

Titus was to pass along greetings to a specific group: those who love us in the faith. Paul's typical designation would be to name some names, whether persons or a location. There were some problem people in some of the churches on Crete, hence needing elders who could refute false teaching and even the exhortation to get away from certain division-makers. False teachers and division-makers wouldn't be fond of Paul, Paul was a sort of litmus test.

Of course, "good-bye" is a shortened form of "God be with ye." The most typical NT salutation would then be, "grace-bye" = “grace be with ye.”

Grace be with you all. (Titus 3:15 ESV)

Just a couple things to marinate in. First, this you all is clearly plural (a plural pronoun plus the adjective for all). It suggests Paul expected that this letter would be read publicly. It's one of the reasons he reminds Titus to speak with authority, so the hearers would know it, too.

Second, grace is really good. Just in Titus, grace and peace from the Father and Son start it off (1:4), grace from God has appeared to train us (2:11), grace justifies us in order to be hoping heirs of eternal life (3:7), and it goes with us. Grace keeps us company. It's a supernatural good word of reminder, prayer, and blessing.

To recap the letter:

Adorn the doctrine. The truth is already good, live in such a way that shows its beauty.

Numbered List Take-aways (NLTAs):

Whether you consider yourself imaginative or not, your greatest imaginative efforts could not have imagined it so good as to know and worship and serve the God of all grace. He is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, and His power is at work within us. So, may He bless You, equip You, and go with you for good.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 ESV)

As we gather this evening, we mark the 4th convocation of Comeford College. Convocation is a word that has fallen out of usage in recent years. It comes from the Latin word convocatio (kon-voh-KAH-tee-oh) which is derived from con (together) and vocare (voh-cah-reh) (to call or summon). Convocation then is a special calling together for some shared purpose. Convocations are meant to be more ceremonial or celebratory than your average meeting.

By holding an annual convocation for Comeford College, we celebrate a new year and remind ourselves why we started in the first place and renew our commitment to pursue its purpose for existence.

This past year, the board of Comeford College has been discussing that purpose and evaluating our program. We met with a college accreditation agency to assess where we are at and seek their counsel. Based on those discussions it was decided best to make some changes to our program.

By now, most of you have heard that we have shifted away from pursuing a degreed program at this time and have launched our own custom certificate program. You can read more about it on our website.

While the program has changed, the purpose has not which is to challenge all our people, young and old, to join in the work of building, battling, and blessing.

We seek to build a better future for ourselves and the generations to come, and in so doing, experience God’s blessings. We believe those blessings will extend to our neighbors.

It should be no surprise to anyone here that these are not the most favorable of times for true followers of Christ. Sean recently launched our Sunday night series Build and Battle where he pointed out that we are currently living in a negative world where Christianity is no longer viewed in a positive or even a neutral light, and it likely to only get worse.

According to Pew Research and other research groups, the group called “nones” is the fastest growing religious group in America. “Nones” are those who do not affiliate or identify with any faith group. It includes atheists, agnostics, and former church attenders who no longer adhere to their church’s teachings. Currently it is estimated that “nones” make up about 23% of the population while those who identify as Christian make up 64%. If current trends hold it is thought that within 50 years, the “nones” will reach 40% or better while Christians will decrease to less than 50%.

This of course is all in the Lord’s hands. We hope and pray that he brings revival. With such a pessimistic outlook it would be tempting to circle the wagons and just hold on as we wait for the end times. That is essentially what some Christians are doing today.

Here at TEC, and by extension, Comeford College, we believe now is the time to double and triple down on our efforts to build, battle, and bless.

The days of Nehemiah and Ezra were certainly not favorable, yet God intervened to let those men begin the work of restoring Jerusalem. I take great encouragement from these biblical examples knowing that it is God who builds and tears down. He judges the proud and shows mercy to the humble. I take hope in the Apostle Paul’s words in Romans 8:31, “…if God is for us, who can be against us?”

C.S. Lewis addressed the right time to build in The Weight of Glory when he wrote,

“If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.”

Now is the time for building a better future for ourselves and the generations to come. The college is only a part of that work, but it is an important one.

For multiple decades there have been two areas of decay in our society that are rotting our culture from the inside out. The first is the widespread rejection of Jesus as Lord in every area of life and the second is the growing ignorance and/or rejection of the great ideas that have fed the development of Western Civilization.

These two issues are related in that you can’t speak of Western Civilization in a meaningful way with recognizing how deeply Christian thought has largely shaped it. It is Western principles, born out of Christian-based ideals, that continually appeals to would-be-immigrants in vastly larger numbers than any other nation on earth.

Let me now address these two issues and how Comeford College seeks to address both. In so doing, I hope to inspire more of you to consider availing yourself of the college’s program so that together was are better able to build towards a better future.

The first, and foremost issue, is the widespread rejection of Jesus as Lord of all. Any casual observer of American history will readily see that a belief in the one true God was a cardinal principle in our nation’s formation.

This is evidenced by those famous words found in the Declaration of Independence,

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The declaration that Jesus is Lord is the omnia comprehensiva (OM-nee-ah kom-pre-hen-SEE-vah) , or all encompassing, claim that requires all of creation in heaven and on earth to yield to him.

Every aspect of our lives must comport with this claim. There is no area of life that is outside of it. There is no sacred and secular.

If Jesus is Lord of all then he cares about it all and therefore we should care about as many things as our finite nature allows us to.

Think about some of the modern-day maxims we are told: your religion is a private thing, you don’t talk about religion in polite company, we must preserve the separation of Church and State, religious expression is only for inside the church building. Heaven forbid we offend someone with a nativity scene at the mall.

The pressure to go along with these socially acceptable religious mandates continues to increase. Many Christians have succumbed to the pressure and go along to get along, and inch by inch the enemy invades.

Comeford College exists to smash such nonsense. We say proclaim Christ at the family get together. Proclaim him in the workplace. Speak of him in the public square. Expect our political leaders to honor him. Refuse to be cloistered in our stained-glass aquariums once a week.

If Jesus is Lord of every square inch of creation, then each of us must be constantly pressing on, by the power of His Spirit, to take back those inches that are under Satan’s influence.

This isn’t just the job of a few gifted saints. It is all our calling wherever we find ourselves.

Ask yourself, do you have the right kind of godly discontent, or have you found a groove that suits you and your content to ride that groove to the end?

One of the classes we are offering at the college on an ongoing basis is called Jealousable Lordship.

The course description states, “This class would be IDEAL for every Christian, especially for those who know that God has called them to live on earth for more than simply evangelism.”

We believe we are called to live as he has commanded us and in so doing, we will be blessed. That blessing will in turn make us jealousable to those who are being saved.

This class shows how a grammatical-historical reading of God’s Word gives us confidence as we live out its implications in our families, churches, and cities.

We highly recommend that every adult at TEC take this course.

Consider one final point on this issue. If the enemy of our soul’s knew that there was no way he could snatch us from the Father’s hand, what would be the next best thing? Wouldn’t it be to keep us corralled away in our churches where we aren’t interfering with his plans. An enemy cornered is an enemy controlled.

All believers, regardless of age, should constantly be looking for the next inch where they can proclaim Jesus is Lord over it.

On a whim, I asked ChatGPT how important Christian thought is to the development of Western Civilization. Here is its short answer:

“Christian thought has played a significant role in the development of Western civilization, influencing its cultural, philosophical, legal, and social frameworks. Its impact is deeply rooted in various aspects of Western society, shaping institutions, ethics, and intellectual traditions.”

It then went on to list how Christian thought impacted the concepts of justice, charity, and the inherent dignity of individuals. The belief that all men are created in the image of God led to the principle of universal human dignity and subsequent developments in human rights and equality.

Many early universities were started by the Church. Thinkers in the church, such as Thomas Aquinas and Augustine, developed the ideas of natural law, the relationship between Church and State, religious freedom, and just war theory.

Christian monasteries preserved much of the classical Greek and Roman knowledge through manuscript copying and libraries, ensuring the transmission of ancient wisdom to future generations.

Christianity profoundly influenced Western art, particularly through the creation of religious icons, sculptures, paintings, and the construction of cathedrals and churches. Art styles like Gothic, Romanesque, and Renaissance were deeply influenced by Christian themes, focusing on biblical stories and the divine.

Christians have been at the forefront of the abolition, social justice, and equality movements.

Christians fostered the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, and other charitable institutions throughout Western history and were often at the forefront of caring for the poor, sick, and marginalized.

Christian thought has also supported the development of science, particularly in the belief that the universe is orderly and intelligible because it was created by a rational God. Early scientists such as Isaac Newton, Johannes Kepler, and Gregor Mendel were deeply religious and saw their work as exploring God's creation.

Christian teachings on the nature of authority, governance, and justice have significantly shaped Western political institutions. Concepts such as the divine right of kings, social contract theories, and the value of individual liberty and conscience were influenced by Christian theological discussions.

Christian notions of equality before God and the inherent dignity of individuals contributed to the development of Western democratic ideas, including the belief that rulers should be accountable to the people and that individuals have intrinsic rights.

As you listen to this history of Christian influence in Western Civilization, ask yourself how this compares to the Church’s role in society today.

By and large, our institutions and political processes have been surrendered to, or taken over by, those who do not hold to a biblical worldview. The result has been the decay I stated earlier.

People today want the fruit of Western Civilization but not the tree from whence it comes.

It used to be that every four-year degree offered in college would include a general education in Western Civilization. This was deemed necessary so as to prepare students to be good citizens. This general education has been largely replaced with courses that focus on contemporary matters such as DEI, racial justice, climate change, gender studies, and other social issues of the day.

Critics of traditional classical studies question why we should be studying “dead white guys”. The result is that we are becoming a society that is not truly educated to be thinkers but rather trained widgets to fulfill some useful task in society.

Mortimer Adler, in his book Six Great Ideas, insists on the necessity of everyone having a foundational education in the great ideas of Western Civilization. He writes,

“Becoming acquainted and conversant with the great ideas will not prepare the individual for any special career—in business, the learned professions, or highly skilled occupations of one technical sort or another. Specialized schooling is required for that. But everyone is called to one common human vocation—that of being a good citizen and a thoughtful human being. Only by the presence of philosophy in the general schooling of all is everyone prepared to discharge the obligations common to all because all are human beings…”

By philosophy, Adler means the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. The word philosophy comes from the Greek word philosophia (fee-loh-SOH-fee-ah) which means “love of wisdom”.

Adler correctly points out the need for a given populace to be conversant on the big ideas that shape what a nation is or aspire to. Anything less leads to a population voting for the kind of poor leaders we have today.

If you have been paying attention to all the political rancor going on you will notice that both major parties are using words like democracy, fairness, equality, justice, opportunity, etc. The problem is that those words have different meanings to them. Take equality for example. To one party that means equal opportunity. To the other it means equal outcome. Those differing interpretations lead to vastly different ideas about the role of government in our lives.

Without a common understanding of what these big ideas mean, we the people vote for individuals who say the right words but end up foisting destructive laws on us because they mean something entirely different when they use those words.

One of the ways Comeford College seeks to combat this dumbing down of our population is by offering a course like Omnisteroids. This course is designed to introduce students to many of these big ideas of Western Civilization and to learn from the good and the bad in its history.

Building a better future must begin with understanding the past, otherwise how can we know what better is? As the saying goes, “He who doesn’t learn from history, is doomed to repeat it.”

Classes like Omnisteroids helps shore up our personal foundations so that we are better equipped to assist as we battle and build together.

We hope to see many of our adults take this class.

To paraphrase Bob Dylan - the times they are a changin’, and it’s not good. I’m not sure if there ever has been a time in history when they were. The prince of the power of the air has always been at work to stop kingdom work. His goal is to bring about as much death as he can, but God is at work to bring life.

Even in the direst of circumstances God has been at work throughout human history to build and bless for his name’s sake and glory, and we don’t have to wait until the end times to see it.

I’m close to finishing my 5th read through the bible in the last two years and I have been impressed as I re-read the Old Testament of God’s intention to restore and bless the nation of Israel even as he takes them through times of severe discipline.

The major and minor prophets are particularly interesting. Together they make up 240 of the bible’s 1190 chapters, or about 20%. Much of it contains warnings to Israel and pronouncements of judgement on them and other nations. Nevertheless, the prophets always hold out the promise that God’s end game for his people isn’t punishment but rather restoration and blessing, and he says he will accomplish it by giving the Jews a new heart.

As I was reading through Lamentations on my recent vacation, I came across one of the most often recited set of verses of hope found in the bible. You know them well and have probably recited them to yourself in times of difficulty.

The verses are found in Lamentation 3:22-23,

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Up to this point in Lamentations the author, presumably Jeremiah, has been lamenting the current state of affairs. It is all doom and gloom with no hope in sight.

Just a few verses prior to verse 22 he wrote,

“He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes; my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, ‘My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.’ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.”

As he sits there with his soul vexed, he reflects on the nature of God and then says, “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:” before launching into his declaration on God’s mercies.

Perhaps you can identify with Jeremiah, especially as we approach November 6th (Ha!).

We do not live in favorable times yet build we shall because we believe God’s mercies are new every morning and great is his faithfulness.

Comeford College is just one prong in TEC’s fork to try and pick up a very large meatball, to use one of Sean’s favorite illustrations.

We are small and easy to ignore. The Tobiahs of this age will mock and say, “What they are building – if a fox should jump on it – he will break their stone wall down.”

Maybe they will be right. If, however, we care enough to build a college, and avail ourselves of it, and God chooses to bless it – I like the odds of it being used to build, battle, and bless our way to a better future.

Does it surprise you that God lets people say such foolish things? God lets divisions between people happen. He lets fools have large platforms. He does not stop a lot of proud and perverted people from crazy, even destructive, talk. Where are the lightning bolts, the “random” arrows in the chest (like Ahab, 1 Kings 22:34), flesh-eating worms (like Herod, Acts 12:21-23) or making men into dumb oxen (like Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 4:33)?

Like kids with new flashlights, we learn truth and start shining it all round looking for roaches. We want to correct the errors, or at least shut the mouths of error-making if we can't get them to quiet down on their own. We have modern day heresy hunters who make their living exposing false teaching. Before podcasts became the rage, we had Christian watchblogs, relentless to condemn the Crisis Du Jour based on a clip of what some other professing Christian said.

I get it. I took out tens of thousands of dollars of student loans to learn how to tell people that they are WRONG. I earned my M.Dis = Master of Disagreement/Disapproval (to be clear, this is not a real degree; it’s tongue-in-cheek). I read Titus 2:15 - "Exhort and rebuke with all authority." I read Titus 3:8 - "insist on these things." My preacher's ears tingle when Martin Luther said that only disloyal soldiers won’t fight at the “little point which the world and the Devil are at that moment attacking.”

But not only is every hill not worth dying on, some hills—according to God’s Word—are worthless, and we should walk away. Wisdom knows when to leave the dog alone (Proverbs 26:17). Doctrine-lovers often engage too long in dumb arguments and we dismiss others too fast, both of which behaviors do not accord with sound doctrine. As usual, there are a thousand ways to do it wrong, and we get help from Titus 3:9-11 to do it less wrong ourselves.

Just as verse 4 began with a contrast, so does verse 9. Titus 3:1-11 is of one piece, giving us good reminders of our responsibilities in public life, and this final section reminds us how not to be foolish. There are motivations for good works, including that they are good/excellent and good/fruitful (verse 8). Not all our behavior, even in the name of truth, does such good.

There are two imperatives in verses 9-11: avoid dumb arguments, and there's a reason (verse 9), and have nothing to do with divisive people, with a reason (verses 10-11).

The first word in the Greek sentence gets emphasis, pronounced moras, from which English gets "moron." The command itself doesn't come until after the list of no-good-things. But foolish sets the tone.

But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. (Titus 3:9)

What are foolish controversies? They probably include debates about genealogies and certain angles on the law. They might start to touch on some of things that an elder should refute according to Titus 1:10-16. They are debates that, at best, let a fool feel superior. They do not help brace anyone's behavior in a world of hate.

Genealogies are probably the ones in the Old Testament. They are inspired by God and profitable if they are read in context. But if someone sees the "extra" meaning, the "hidden" meaning, and writes a best-seller--or probably what he boasts would be a best-seller if he could get someone to publish it--how it will change your life, walk away.

Quarrels about the law are in a similar category. Paul wrote elsewhere that "the law is good, if one uses it lawfully" (1 Timothy 1:8); no way was “the circumcision party” (Titus 1:10) having a lawful party. These quarrels were making black and white issues out of the white spaces.

Stop getting involved. Avoid. Steer clear. It’s not just don't start them, don't engage in them. Walk away.

The reason is because such a war of words is unprofitable and worthless. Good works in verse 8 were excellent and profitable, and this is the exact opposite. They are no good, they are empty of value.

"But what he said is wrong, and I can, I have to correct them." Said by more than one kind of fool.

We must keep in our mind that there is a right time to stop trying to change their mind.

As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. (Titus 3:10-11)

As for a person who stirs up division is quite a mouthful for what are two words in the original: "heretic man." The NASB has "factious man." The adjective is only used here in the New Testament, hairetikon, where our word "heretic" comes from.

We also have a different definition in mind of a heretic than Paul did writing to Titus around AD 62. We think of it in mostly doctrinal terms, someone who believes/teaches something that is outside of orthodoxy. But in the mid first century, they didn't even have a complete New Testament, let alone a finished volume of precise apostolic teaching.

But this probably isn't separate from doctrine either. These divisions come from the foolish things in verse 9. The factious man makes them his brand, he tries to get a following. He upsets entire families (Titus 1:11). In doing so he shows that he is warped/“perverted” (NASB).

Warn him, try to win him. Actually, warn him twice. Then stop interacting with him. Have nothing more to do with him. “Reject a factious man” (NASB).

“Further efforts would not be a good stewardship of his time and energies and would give the offender an undeserved sense of importance.” (Hiebert)

The warning seems to be more formal, as in, coming from Titus, or by application from elders that Titus established in the churches. This isn’t a license for you to stop talking to your crazy uncle after a couple family meetings. For that matter, disagreement doesn’t equal divisiveness.

This instruction about the factious man has been abused. I've experienced when an elder is being confronted for his sin, privately and patiently, and he got tired of that confrontation and convinced some fellow elders that those confronting him were being divisive. He used his elders's authority, and this passage, to protect his own sin. That's not right, or even the kind of situation Paul is talking about in context.

Divide from the divisive. Ironic, perhaps, but good.

Why does God ordain foolish, factious men? At least according to 1 Corinthians 11:19, it is His way of proving who is genuine. One way to recognize the disingenuous is that he can’t stop trying to prove his point.

God knows. And often, time will tell.

In an age of constant alert we feel we are always fighting for our loves, I mean, lives. We should not ignore everything, but we are foolish to make everything EVERYTHING.

Even with true enemies, according to 2 Timothy 2:22, the Lord's servant must not quarrel, but trust God to grant repentance, trust that God is attentive. We cannot out-care God. He regularly laughs. So should we. Don't flame on about everything.

Titus 3:1-11 are good reminders about good works, and about arguments that are fruitless. Adorn the doctrine, don’t wrestle about in the mud of dumb arguments.

Being ready to fight is only as good as the fight is not foolish. Defend the faith, yes! And avoid dumb arguments. Adorn the doctrine! Be ready for every good work! And trust God to deal with the haters, the saboteurs, the division-makers. Don’t let them stop you from doing good.

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Peter 4:19 ESV)

We pick up in a new sentence but in the middle of an argument. Titus 3:1-8 is a section of good reminders with an emphasis on good works.

God is making a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works (2:14). God's people need to be reminded to be ready for every good work (3:1). And those who have believed in God should be careful to devote themselves to good works (3:8).

There are at least five motivations for good works.

There were seven good reminders about our public life in verses 1-2, and there were seven reminders about our pre-Christian life in verse 3. Verse 3 is a reason we should be peaceable, especially to those who might provoke us, because we also hated others.

That was once. It wasn't one time, or one day, but how we were passing our days. Then God did something. God saved us. God saves sinners. God saves haters. Mercy trumps haters. And this is another motivation for now doing good works.

A couple things about the placement and perspective of this single sentence.

As for placement, it isn't necessary as new information, it belongs with our behavior motivation. The truth of the gospel, the glories of the doctrine of God our Savior, are what created Christians on Crete and have been written about in the letter already. But the rehearsal of God's goodness to us here remind us about why we can do good to haters without a worry.

As for perspective, this is from God's view. Note that there is nothing about our faith (which doesn't mean faith isn't necessary, because there's also no mention of the cross, and that is necessary). When we were haters God showed us kindness. There is a lesson, there is motivation.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4–7 ESV)

The main verb/idea is simple: he saved us. Everything else modifies that.

It wasn't when we were ready, it was when He was ready;

Goodness/“kindness” (NASB) is in reference to “the quality of being helpful or beneficial” (BAGD). Loving kindness per the ESV, is the word philanthropia, which at root is a “love for people.” So we get our English word philanthropy, a love of promoting the health and happiness of others.

The sixfold repetition of Savior in this letter (1:3, 4; 2:10, 13; 3:4, 6) make me wonder why. The title certainly belongs with God’s merciful work in this section.

In two parts, what it is not and what it is. Our salvation is not because of works done by us in righteousness. It stands out in this context because of all the emphasis on works, on good ones. They are required. They are not the reason/basis God saved us, they are the reason/purpose God saved us. Besides, we weren't holy anyway, we were haters.

The basis of our salvation is entirely within God Himself: but according to his own mercy. Here's one example of why I think it's not necessary to make a distinction between mercy and grace, because this mercy purposes to give not just to not give what we deserve. But we do not deserve it, and the why of salvation is that God decided to contribute all mercy. His mercy moves Him.

by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior

The how comes in regeneration—being born again, a new genesis (palingenesia, TDNT), and renewal—being made new (and the only other mention of this word in Romans 12:2). Both of those were and are accomplished by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit doesn't only blow on us like the wind (John 3:9), His inner washing cleanses us, He dwells in us, and this is described as the Spirit being poured out on us *abundantly *through the Son.

so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Justification is of course another great part of our salvation, and, of course, it's by grace (alone). Note also that justification changes our status not just from guilty to not-guilty, not just from unrighteous to righteous, but from haters to heirs. Heirs are sons, family, not nobodies.

We can submit (as much as possible) to (ungodly) authorities because they can't take away our inheritance. We can avoid quarreling and show mercy to the haters because they can't touch our life, at least the one that lasts forever.

You heirs of eternal life, walk among the haters with this hope.

The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. (Titus 3:8 ESV)

What is the "faithful saying"? It's the vehicle that delivered these things, so coming somewhere in verses 4-7. But it's not obvious if all, or even any, of those phrases were part of a well known confession or hymn at Paul's time. The trustworthy word is summed up: God shows mercy to haters.

Titus, and those establishing and building churches, must insist on these things, which are truths of sovereign grace as motivation for saved living in verses 1-2. The doctrine of God our savior is to be admired, but it must be adorned.

Believers have responsibility. Careful would be enough, devote would be enough. "Ready" in verse 1 would have been enough. Combined they keep saying that we have to pay attention and not quit. I insist on your intent. Care to be concerned. “Make it your business to do good” (Goodspeed).

Good works are manifold: Give a ride, take some soup, host some guests/show hospitality (see 1 Timothy 5:10). Don't quarrel (over everything). Build something, small or big. Good works don’t have to be organized by the church or for a non-profit organization (though they could be that, too). There’s plenty to be done.

And that brings the last motivation, which is that "these things," at least the seven reminders for public life in verses 1-2, are excellent/good in themselves, and profitable/accomplishing good.

These are all good reminders for embodied doctrine in a world of hate.

Our Triune God is rich in mercy. Each person of the Trinity is mentioned in Titus: the Father’s mercy by the Spirit through Jesus Christ. The Father resolves, the Son redeems, the Spirit regenerates and renews. When it comes to our salvation, as one commentator shows, God is the principal, meritorious, and efficient cause.

God’s mercy is the norm for our new, saved, eternal, and public life. God’s goodness—to us when undeserving—is the pattern and power for our goodness—to the undeserving. Haters gonna hate, mercy gonna do good.

Our good works will be foolishness to the world until God uses our good works as conduits of His mercy.

I insist that you—you who believe in God, who have received His mercy, who are renewed by the Holy Spirit, who are no longer haters but heirs in hope—be careful to commit yourselves to good works. Do not be overcome by the world of hate, but overcome hate by mercy and goodness.

[May] our God make you worthy of his calling and fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12 ESV)

One great temptation for me are work montages in movies. I get that the scenes aren't only edited together to make it look like a lot happened in a short period of time, but that what happened in the scenes was fake anyway; it took a crew of people just to get props in place. But there's something about productive productivity, things getting built, projects being accomplished that tempts me both to believe the lies and to envy the false images. It’s not that easy, and it’s never that fast.

There's also a part of me that wishes/feels guilty that I'm not skilled enough, or patient enough to learn the skills, for a bunch of building things. I used to do demolition decently. As long as I can keep getting back surgery when I need I can still mow. I've said many times, it's not only the smell of freshly cut grass that excites me, it's the visible progress with every swath. "Look, I'm getting somewhere." Most of my big building projects are invisible (though eternal), intangible (though sometimes results are visible later). My work is soulcraft, maybe institution-craft, and that is a privileged calling and comes with its own furrowed/stressed, if not sweaty, brow (Genesis 3:19).

Genesis 3 is a decisive point, in human history of course, but also for this discussion. It’s in Genesis 3:15 that we get the first gospel hope (a Seed is coming who will crush the serpent’s head), but that’s also where God establishes a perpetual enmity and hostility between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. There will be, there is, a God-ordained battle.

And battle sells. Crisis/crises sell, especially to people who get that there is no neutrality. Not only do we spend and donate money to our cause, we spend and donate all kinds of our attention. We can easily pass our days in political malice and envy. We love our side, we’re loyal to our team, we shout our preferred slogans/propaganda.

It’s a military and marketing strategy. Identify the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. Put a single spotlight on the cause of someone’s problems then sell him the solution. It’s (part of the reason) why conservative media thrives in selling advertising when progressives are in power.

Even if we can’t win, even if there is no product that fixes the problem, we also still like the feeling of complaining. The more righteous the complaint the more cathartic we tell ourselves our complaining is. How much energy do we waste by getting worked up again?

Bricks don’t brand. By which I mean, adding another brick to the wall doesn’t sound fun, or fulfilling, or as necessary as THE FIGHT™️. Besides, our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, ON GUARD! That’s not entirely wrong.

It’s maybe especially not wrong in our day. When it comes to understanding the times (like the king’s counselors in Esther 1:13 and the men of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12:32), our time is no good. There are other times (and places) that have been even more no good. But in the 21st century West, we happened not just to imagine, but to experience times of blessing. These blessings were connected to cultures that honored Christ as Lord even though not all individuals were Christians. But we are being systematically unburdened of many of these have-been blessings.

Our first book for Men to Men in October and November will be Life in the Negative World by Aaron Renn. This Sunday evening series is connected to the categories Renn proposes.

It could, it will, get more negative before Christ returns. That could be soon, or we might see God grant revival in our age. But we are in a stage of negative world. What should we do?

We should not hide our light under the basket/modius (Matthew 5:15).

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

We should adorn the doctrine of God our Savior (Titus 2:10). We should preach the gospel, knowing that it is foolishness to some and offensive to others, “but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24). We should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, not just in our hearts but before men (Matthew 10:32-33).

And in our land, we have opportunity and responsibility to use our economic and political talents, not bury them in perfectionism or panic. We should “do justice…love kindness…and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8). We should honor God in what is natural (cf. Romans 1:26-27), we should receive with thanksgiving all the things God says are good (1 Timothy 4:4-5).

That is key. We fight for something, it’s not just that we fight. Jacob wrestled with God to get blessing. Back in Genesis 3, while God judged Adam with difficulty in his work, it did not change the mandate to work, to be fruitful and multiple and take dominion (Genesis 1:28). Adam was given responsibility to build. When sin entered, bricks might have fallen and made his shins bloody, the serpent might have tried to make him proud of his wall or to make him depressed by pushing it over, but building was still Adam’s project.

I get fired up when I think about it, and pray for God to move among us like in Nehemiah. We’ll get to Nehemiah on Sunday mornings in a few months. Habakkuk prophesied that Judah would be taken captive. In Ezra and Nehemiah, the first couple cycles return from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem. It was risky, it was rough, it was ridiculed. Being a Jew in Jerusalem was living in the negative world.

What didn’t they have to build? It included a wall around the city for protection so that they could turn attention to all the internal work. And “the people had a mind to work” (Nehemiah 4:6).

They got to see the progress of the wall. We don’t always get to see such community progress. It’s not quite so all-or-nothing, and we ought to seek wisdom to see trajectories, as well as to give thanks for all we can. But also, you can dance like no one is watching, but we must build like the Lord Jesus will call us to account for what we did with what He gave us.

“each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built” (Nehemiah 4:18)

One of my favorite 145 second videos is this old NSA ad, swords and shovels. Spurgeon also had The sword and the Trowel as a regular newsletter. Build and battle.

This isn’t the first time we’ve tried to talk about these things. The “Centers and Circumferences” messages are related. See also To Take Dominion, and the whole series from 2019 on A Mind to Work.

Some building is financial and some figurative, some short term and others for when we’ve been dead 500 years. So we build:

Takes faith. Good thing we are believers.

If there’s anything to be learned to this point in the negative world, it’s that secular culture will not allow us to have a private faith. (Life in the Negative World, Loc. 2860)

Good thing we didn’t want to have only a private faith.

Those who can, build. Those who can’t, criticize, ha! But according to Titus 2:14, God Himself is purifying for Himself a people zealous for good works. Get after doing goods, for such a time as this.