They couldn’t believe their eyes. The
altar had been torn down! The altar, the very core of their
spiritual life and spiritual heritage and now it was just rubble.
They had never actually seen the Temple and the Altar it housed
themselves, but they had heard the stories and their parents and Grand
Parents delighted in telling them how glorious it was or had been.
On their trip back to Jerusalem they spoke often of the day they would
arrive and how they would be able to worship at the altar that Solomon had
built and dedicated to the Lord, and how they would finally be able to
present offerings and sacrifices just as their forefathers had done.
But it was not to be. What had once been a beautiful tribute to the
God of Israel was now nothing. It was just a mess.
Actually the damage wasn’t limited to the altar; the entire temple had
been devastated and would never be restored to it’s former glory.
But the altar was the where the people directed their attention because it
was here that the priests offered the sacrifices to God. Sacrifices
of wheat, oil and animals. It was here that their sins were forgiven.
And now it was gone. And so they started to work to restore and
rebuild the altar so they could once again make offerings to God. It was
only after the altar had been finished would they start the task of
rebuilding the temple.
So what has happened? Last week we looked at King Solomon, David’s son,
building the temple. This week the temple is in ruins. Well actually there
were many things that happened in this period. The temple was built around
966 B.C. About 30 years later after the death of Solomon Israel was
divided into two sections, the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom,
also referred to as Israel and Judah. During the next 400 years the two
kingdoms were alternately blessed and brought under persecution depending
on their obedience and faithfulness to God. In 586 B.C. the Southern
Kingdom and Jerusalem fell to Babylon and the victors took the people of
Jerusalem captive and transported them back to Babylon where they served
as slaves until Babylon fell to the Persians around 538 B.C. Under the
rule of Cyrus the Persian the Jewish exiles were allowed to return to
Jerusalem and that’s where our story picks up. Just to clear things up a
little bit let’s pull up a map and take a look at where everything was
happening.
This morning we are looking at the book of Ezra which is 15th book of the
bible. Written by the prophet Ezra around 440 B.C. this book was
originally linked with the book of Nehemiah in the Jewish scriptures as a
single volume. Why was it written? Ezra uses the book to contrast purity
with compromise.
So where were we? Oh yeah the temple and the altar have been destroyed and
now the first of the exiles have returned to Jerusalem.
If we read the description of the temple we discover that there were two
altars mentioned. A small Altar just outside the Holy of Holy, which was
called the Incense Altar and here the Priest burnt incense each day . And
then there was a much larger altar which was located at the entrance to
the temple. This altar was thirty foot square and stood 15 foot high, it
was constructed out of bronze and it was here that offerings were made to
God. And this is the altar that had been destroyed and was rebuilt in Ezra
3.
But what does that have to do with us? Good question. If you look around
you discover that we do not have an altar at Bedford Community Church,
traditionally Wesleyan Churches do not have altars. In the Catholic and
Anglican tradition, the altar is where the Eucharist or Communion is
served from, what we might refer to as the communion table. In some
Evangelical Churches, you will hear the rails at the front of the church
referred to as the altar or the altar rails and people are encouraged to
come to the altar to pray and when people are invited to come and pray for
salvation that is called an altar call. That is a good idea, but that is a
fairly recent term that is to say in the last 150 years. It originated in
the camp meetings of the late 1800’s where people were encouraged to come
to the front to pray and they would kneel at the front pews. The front
pews became known as the mourners bench, because people came and were
remorseful about their sin. The mourners bench eventually became the
altar, but it’s not really the altar that’s just what it’s called. How
confusing is that?
Within the New Testament there is no reference to the early church having
altars, altar rails, or altar calls. However we read this reference in
Hebrews 13:10 We have an altar from which the priests in the Temple on
earth have no right to eat. What do you think that is? Two verses later we
read Hebrews 13:12 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates
in order to make his people holy by shedding his own blood. And then only
three verses further along this is written Hebrews 13:15 With Jesus’ help,
let us continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by proclaiming the
glory of his name. The altar that we as Christians have is a personal
altar; we no longer need the priests to offer up sacrifices for us, it’s
been done. Our relationship with God is a personal relationship and that
is the altar at which we need to worship. You can’t worship at my altar
and I can’t worship at your altar.
But sometimes have you ever felt like your altar had fallen into
disrepair? That your relationship with your Savior isn’t what it once was?
In the book of the Revelation Jesus is addressing the church in Ephesus
and he says Revelation 2:4 But I have this complaint against you. You
don’t love me or each other as you did at first! They had lost their first
love, their altar had fallen down.
What causes that to happen? And is there anyway to correct it or better
yet keep it from happening?
Let’s start by saying that in most cases this isn’t something that happens
all at once, you know you wake up and think, “Wow, my altar has fallen
down. That was kind of sudden.” Instead it usually happens gradually, a
little bit of erosion at a time. Not a lot of people suddenly decide to
just walk away from their spiritual commitment. “You know I don’t think
I’ll be a Christ Follower anymore, no reason I just think I’ll stop
believing.” That’s not the way it happens, altars don’t just fall down.
1) Sometimes it’s Neglect. Like most relationships, our relationship with
God requires a commitment. If you tried to sustain a marriage relationship
without putting any time or effort into it what would happen? What do you
mean you’ve tried it?
What happens is that gradually you drift apart, not because you no longer
love each other but simply because you neglect to spend time together. And
regardless of what the old maxim says absence doesn’t always make the
heart grow fonder, instead absence sometimes makes the heart go wander.
If a relationship is going to survive there needs to be communication, you
need to talk to one another and you need to listen to one another. Neglect
communication and you neglect the relationship and it won’t be long before
it’s in ruins. Why? Because without communication we don’t know what the
other person is looking for, what their expectations are and where they
want the relationship to go. So instead of their being a relationship you
simply have two people occupying the same space but going in separate
directions. And while that is the way too many marriages end up that’s not
the way most marriages begin.
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Do you remember during your
courtship how you wanted to be with each other all the time. You would
talk for hours about nothing, just to talk to one another. And then after
you were married there seemed to be more and more outside activities,
children, work and friends. Pretty soon the energy and time you had for
one another was being spent on others and there wasn’t any time or energy
left for the relationship. And one day you wake up and you don’t know the
person who’s sharing your bed and your life.
In our spiritual life the same
thing can happen. We make a commitment to God, accept the gift of
forgiveness and eternal life that he offers and we are so keen. We want to
be in church every time the door opens, we’re reading our bibles and
spending time in prayer. We want to tell everyone about the wonderful
change that has taken place in our lives.
And then other commitments arise, and perhaps it’s work that keeps you
away on Sunday or the kid’s hockey games. By the time the day is done you
don’t time to study your bible or to pray and you don’t want to hear the
“all you have to do is get up an hour earlier” line because you’re not
getting enough sleep as is.
And before you know it Church is a once in awhile endeavor and prayer
is what you do when you need help or when the kids are sick or you might
get down sized at work, and you know you have a bible you’re just not sure
where it is.
And one day you look and the altar of your relationship with Christ is
nothing but a pile of rubble. British Author Owen Felltham said
“Negligence is the rust of the soul, that corrodes through all her best
resolves.” And the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 29:11 to not neglect our
duties and in Nehemiah 10:39 not to neglect God’s house and in 1 Timothy
4:14 to not neglect our spiritual gifts and in Hebrews 10:25 to not
neglect meeting together as believers.
2) Sometimes It’s Sin Neglect is something that happens when we’re not
paying attention but sin is a conscious decision. It happens when you as a
believer decide that even though you know that you shouldn’t take part in
a particular activity. Even when you are fully aware that it is wrong and
is diametrically opposed to God’s will and God’s word you are going to do
it anyway.
Perhaps you are aware of Canadian Economist and Author Laurence J. Peter
and his principle which is called strangely enough “The Peter Principle”
which states The Peter Principle: “In a hierarchy every employee tends to
rise to his level of incompetence.”
You understand how that works right. A guy starts off as a part time sales
person does great and gets promoted to a full time sales person, he does
great in that job and is promoted to sales manager does a pretty good job
there so he’s promoted to general manager and doesn’t do a great job
there. He doesn’t perform so badly that he gets fired but he performs
badly enough that he’ll never get promoted. He just stays there, stuck.
Here’s one that you may not be aware of it’s called the Guptill Principle
and it says “Every believer tends to rise to his level of disobedience.”
You come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, you confess your sins and
ask for forgiveness and you are obedient to what God asks of you, you are
walking in the light. And you begin to grow in your spiritual life. Then
God requires something from you that you aren’t willing to give, perhaps a
habit that you enjoy or simply a refusal to surrender to God’s will.
Jesus’ brother wrote these words in the book that bears his name James
4:17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
And when you consciously disobey God you put a wall up between you and
God. Listen to what God says in Deuteronomy 31:18 At that time I will hide
my face from them on account of all the sins they have committed . . .
And you stop growing, God won’t let you move ahead while you are
disobedient and you are too committed to just turn your back and walk away
from God and so there you are stuck and miserable. And you cannot worship
God while you in that position. Your altar has been torn down and it’s
nobodies fault but your own. Eric Butterworth defined sin as “SIN:
Self-Inflicted Nonsense”
And the only way you can continue to grow in your faith is to surrender to
his will, become obedient and get back on track.
3) Sometimes it’s the Company We Keep You’ve all seen the T-shirt that
says “It’s hard to soar with eagles when you have to work with turkeys.”
It’s hard to maintain a vibrant healthy spiritual life when you’re always
hanging out with people who are indifferent to the claims of Christ or
worse are hostile to the claims of Christ.
And I know you are thinking “Oh yeah well Jesus hung out with sinners and
was even called a friend of sinners.” That’s true, but remember they
weren’t his primary relationships. Jesus’ primary relationship was what he
had with the disciples, and Jesus motives for hanging with the grotty
people was so they would stop being grotty people. What are your motives?
The Bard said “Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me.”
And the bible says in Psalm 1:1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow
the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers.
You hand out too long with the wrong people and and pretty soon you find
that you are doing more of what they do then less of what you should be
doing and one day you look and can’t find your altar.
Here’s the question, if’n you find that your altar has been torn down,
through neglect or sin or bad company can you rebuild it?
Oh yes you most certainly can. And what is the secret? Ezra 3:3 Even
though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the
altar at its old site. In other translations it says They rebuilt the
altar on it’s “foundation.”
4) You Need to Rebuild Your Altar on the Old Foundation.
If you find that your altar has been torn down or has fallen down then you
need to rebuild it, not on a new foundation but on that original
foundation and not by yourself but with God’s help. The foundation of
repentance and forgiveness. The foundation of faith and grace. The
foundation of His word and Prayer. The foundation of obedience. The
foundation of fellowship with other believers and regular corporate
worship. Listen to the words of Jesus’ younger brother Jude 1:20 But you,
dear friends, must continue to build your lives on the foundation of your
holy faith. And continue to pray as you are directed by the Holy Spirit.
So where you at this morning? How’s your altar? Is it doing alright? Is
your relationship with God on a solid foundation? If not it can be.
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