AN ALTAR FIRST

 AN ALTAR FIRST

Ezra 3:1-3 (KJV)

And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.

Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.

 

This chapter finds the first wave of Jews back in Jerusalem.

 

They had been granted permission to return and rebuild by Cyrus, King of Persia, but that didn’t mean everyone was on board. They had some enemies.

 

I think the chapter can break down into three segments, each having to do with worship. I think there is a natural, if not proper order among them.

 

The altar and the offerings

The feast of tabernacles

The foundation of the Temple

 

I wish to preach on the subject, An Altar First.

 

The first thing God did after Adam and Eve had sinned was to slay animals and cover their nakedness.

 

The first thing Abram did when he arrived in the Promised Land was to build an altar.

 

Every place Abraham went one of his first actions was to build an altar.

 

God’s instructions to Moses concerning building the Tabernacle provided that, upon entering the courtyard of the tabernacle, the first thing the priest would come to was the altar.

 

The altar, of course, was used to offer sacrifices to God.

Every one of which, was a picture of the promised Saviour, “the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.”

 

The idea was that there could be no relationship with God until sin was covered by blood.

 

In the Tabernacle, beyond the altar was:

·   The laver, a place to cleanse and purify oneself

·   The table of shewbread, a place to be fed the things of the spirit

·   The goldens candlestick, a place to get light and direction for life

·   The altar of incense, a place to speak to God in prayer

Beyond that was the holy of holies, a place where God Himself would dwell.

 

The application for today is

·   Religious duty, 

·   Bible reading and instruction, and even 

·   Prayer, 

are useless before sin was reconciled by the shedding of blood.

 

Even the very presence of God is blocked from us until we have come to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

 

The very first thing the Jews did, once they got back into the Promised Land, was to build the altar and begin their offerings.

 

There are three things I want to point out to you

I. THEY GATHERED TOGETHER

Ezra 3:1 (KJV)

And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.

 

The Bible says that the settled in their cities. They had homes in different places. They were not together every moment of every day.

·   They lived in different locations

·   They were from different towns

·   They were familiar with different scenery

 

But once they settled in, they gathered themselves together in Jerusalem, the place where God had determined, to offer their sacrifices.

 

Nowhere does the Bible suggest that we ought to be carbon copies of each other.

·   We don’t have to be from the same backgrounds

·   We don’t have to like all the same hobbies

·   We don’t have to earn our livings the same way

 

But when it comes to worshipping God, we ought to do that as one man.

·   With unity of purpose and spirit

·   With agreement in doctrine and truth

·   In the place where God told us to be 

 

That’s a local New Testament Baptist Church.

 

This idea of one man. We see it all over the New Testament.

Acts 2:1 (KJV)

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

 

Romans 12:4-5 (KJV)

For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

 

1 Corinthians 12:12-13 (KJV)

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

 

Ephesians 4:3 (KJV)

Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 

Philippians 2:1-2 (KJV)

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

 

Colossians 3:13-15 (KJV)

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

 

This thing of Christian unity is always in a local church.

There is no invisible body of Christ. There is no universal true church. In the Bible there is only the local church.

 

The principle of unity in that church is one of Satan’s primary targets. He attacks local church unity by creating reasons for division.

 

Therefore, it is essential that we recognize it and do not let him lure us into leaving our church for any reason.

 

II. THEY DID IT AS IT IS WRITTEN

Ezra 3:2 (KJV)

Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

 

·   They gathered together as one man

·   They followed the leadership God had given them and

·   They did as it is written in the law of Moses, the man of God.

 

They did what the Bible said.

 

Consider with me; there is a difference between believing the Bible and practicing the Bible.

 

Use yourself as an example.

I think everyone listening to me would be a Bible believer, isn’t that right? 

·   You believe the Bible. 

·   You believe that it is God’s Word. 

·   You believe that it is true. 

·   You believe that it would be good if people read it, memorized it and heard it preached. 

 

But can you honestly say that you practice what you know the Bible teaches, in every point or almost every one?

 

There are 

·   whole movements of Christians, 

·   whole denominations,

·   whole fellowships of churches 

that insist they believe the Bible. They make a big deal out of the fact that they preach the Bible, but they don’t do as the Bible says.

 

That’s why I preach the way I do.

I do not try to use the Bible to make my point.

 

I try instead to preach what is in the Bible and let the Holy Spirit make HIS point.

 

James taught us,

James 1:22 (KJV)

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

 

It is vitally important that we know the Word of God, every part of it, so we can be doers of the Word.

 

Jesus said, Matthew 28:20 (KJV)

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

I can’t get away from that phrase “all things.”

 

I can’t teach people to observe all things Jesus commanded unless I preach and teach all of the Bible.

 

Finally, I want to point out, 

III. THEY HAD SOME ENEMIES

Ezra 3:3 (KJV)

And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.

 

Think about this:

·   God had given them the Promised Land in the first place

·   Cyrus had given them permission to go back

·   They were doing what God’s Word taught them to do

 

But there were people in those countries who did not like it at all.

 

And they were afraid.

 

I think we have a parallel right now.

·   The United States of America was founded on the principle of free worship

·   Our United States Constitution guarantees us the right of free worship

·   Gathering together in this place is doing what God’s Word tells us to do

But there are a lot of people right now who do not like us doing it.

 

And some of us are afraid.

 

I notice that the Bible does not condemn their fear. It only acknowledges it.

 

I have some fears.

I am afraid of dogs

If I do not know the dog, or if it in any way is threatening, I am afraid.

 

I am afraid of needles.

It’s better now than it used to be. But I am still afraid of needles. I don’t like getting shots. There are some things I would rather die of than get the vaccine shot to protect me from it.

 

I am afraid of bees.

It’s probably not rational, I know but I am afraid of bees.

 

And over the years I have had certain mostly well-meaning people quote to me verses like, 

2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

 

Some have rebuked me and told me I was sinning against God because I am afraid of bees.

 

One guy was so obsessed over it he couldn’t rest until he had converted me into a lover of bees. He took me to a field of flowers, began petting the bees and tried to get me to do the same.

 

He quit the church when I refused to convert.

 

I am telling you – fear is a natural thing and can be a very helpful thing. The Bible says, Matthew 10:28 (KJV)

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 

Fear will keep some people out of hell.

 

The Bible does not condemn their fear. 

But the Bible does tell us how they responded to their fear – by worshipping God.

 

And because they feared, because they had enemies, they worshipped that much more.

 

There is fear these days.

·   Fear of the China Virus

·   Fear of government rules

·   Fear of bad publicity for assembling to worship

 

We should not judge or condemn anyone for their fears these days.

 

I think we need to be smart.

None of us knows everything there is to know about the China virus.

 

But I tell you what we ought to be doing. The more the world tries to keep us from gathering to worship, the more we have reason to fear, we ought to be worshipping, that much more.