Confronting sin… (4 things)

• 1^st – Trouble in Judah… vs. 1-4
  • 1^st – Marrying people from other lands… vs. 1-2
    • A short time after their arrival (less than a week) the leaders of Judah came to Ezra…
      • The people who had come back in the 1^st wave with Zerubbabel – 80 years earlier…
      • Had not separated themselves from the people of the Land…
      • Specifically they had intermingled their faith with the pagan beliefs around them…
      • It had happened because they had married pagan people from the nations around them…
      • And the worst offenders were among the leaders of the people!
    • Deuteronomy 7:3 – Under no circumstances was Israel allowed to marry pagan nations…
      • The danger was if they married into these nations – they would worship their gods…
      • The example of Solomon – I Kings 11:14 – whose pagan wives turned him from the Lord…
      • It did not happen in a day – it is a slow compromise…
      • Perhaps at first his pagan wives did not want to go to the Temple with him…
      • Once that was acceptable – they asked if THEY could instead worship their own god…
      • Eventually they asked if Solomon would just ‘go along’ with them / not join in…
      • But in the end – with his will worn down – Solomon was asked to take part!
    • We need to be careful whom we marry / spend our time with…
      • II Corinthians 6:14  – “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.”
      • A powerful warning – you cannot have a FRIENDSHIP with an unbeliever…
      • They are not the same as you are – they are going to pull you down!
      • Do not spend all your time with ‘friends’ and family who do not follow Jesus…
      • Do not seek their counsel or advice – they are not going to point you to the Word…
      • People will either draw you closer to – or father away from Jesus…
      • Surround yourself with godly people – those who encourage your walk in the Lord…
      • I Corinthians 15:33 – “…bad company corrupts good character.”

• 2^nd – The response of Ezra… vs. 3-4
  • When Ezra heard about the sin of the people – he tore his garments…
    • Ezra understood that the people were choosing to live for pleasure – rather than the Lord…
    • Choosing beautiful women – rather than choosing godly women…
    • And he plucked out his own beard – OUCH  – and he sat down appalled by what he saw!
  • There are times when we as believers in Jesus – we should be appalled / even angry…
    • Angry when evil is presented by the world as good / and good as evil!
    • Isaiah 5:20 – “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil…”
    • When we see TV shows that depict homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle…
    • When we see tolerance become the catchphrase of the day – rather then truth!
    • Not angry at sinners – they need our help – but angry at sin…
    • We need to speak out – we need to take action – because it destroys lives!
    • Ephesians 4:26 – “Be angry, and do not sin…”
  • Ezra sat astonished for most of the day – from the morning to evening sacrifice…
    • And all those who feared the Word of the Lord – sat with him…
    • Psalm 111:10 – “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…”
    • Much of the world today scoffs at the Bible – because they do not fear the Lord…
    • They do not fear the judgment seat – they do not fear the Lake of fire…
    • But there are only two kinds of people when it comes to God…
    • Wise sinners who feared the Lord and saw their need for Jesus – and those who did not…
    • For those who reject Jesus – all that waits them is certain and terrifying judgment…
    • Hebrews 10:31 – “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God…”

• 2^nd – The Prayer of Ezra… vs. 5-15
  • 1^st – The humility of Ezra… vs. 5-6
    • At the time of the evening sacrifice (sunset) Ezra began to pray…
      • He fell on his knees – and spread his hands out to the Lord…

• Ezra prayed on his knees to show humility before the Lord…
• When we come before God in His throne room – Hebrews 4:16
• We need to come in humility – our prayers need to have reverence and respect!

• Not that there is a special or required position when it comes to pray…
  • We see example in the Bible of praying while standing / sitting / lying on their face…
  • God does not listen to a prayer made on your knees any more than praying standing…
  • But practically speaking I find it best not to pray lying down – tend to fall asleep…
  • Better to walk and pray – or on our knees – it helps keep us attentive!
• It is not about the position of our body – it is about the position of the heart…
  • I Samuel 16:7 – “People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
  • You cannot have a bad prayer – if you have the right heart…
  • If you wonder if you are praying the ‘right way’ – you are asking the wrong question…
  • Ask yourself why you are praying – if your motive is right – your prayer is right on!

•  James 4:3 – “When you ask, you do not get it because your whole motive is wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure.”
• If our motive is selfish – if our heart is not right – our prayer will not be answered…
• But when we ask for those things that God has given us a desire for – Psalm 37:4
• Asking God to save a lost friend / family member – that is a prayer God WILL answer!

• Ezra was ashamed because of ‘our’ sins – that had risen up to heaven…
  • Ezra was not pointing the finger at the people around him – he included himself!
  • Too often people who like to look down on the mistakes of others…
  • The reason – if they focus on others mistakes – it makes them look better…
  • There are many today who enjoy tearing others down – so they do not look so bad…
  • Want to look tall – stand next to the short guy / white – next to the dark guy…
  • If you want to look ‘good’ point out all the sin of the ‘bad’ guy…
• But they are deceiving themselves – and need to examine their own lives…
  • Whenever we try to ‘justify’ ourselves – we end up having to lower God’s standards…
  • Looking for people who are worse sinners than we are – so we look better!
  • Assume because we are more ‘Godly’ than there are – we are a good person…
  • But God does not grade on a curve – He has only one standard – His Word…
  • And compared to God’s standard – all of us are in desperate need of Jesus!

• 2^nd – Same old sin… vs. 7-12
  • Israel had always been a rebellious nation – from ‘the days of our fathers’…
    • As a result God had allowed them to be defeated by their enemies – killed / captured…
    • Yet the Lord had shown grace to a remnant – given them favor before Persian Kings…
    • Those who had been slaves – were allowed to return and rebuild the Temple…
    • With the hope that God would open the eyes of the people – there would be a revival!
  • But instead the people had returned to their sinful ways – II Peter 2:22
    • Breaking the command of God – Deuteronomy 7:3 – marrying the pagans of the land…
    • Falling back into the same practices that had caused them to be judged in the first place!
    • They had abused the grace of God – as a license to be able to live a lifestyle of sin!
    • Roman 6:1-2 – “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
    • God has given us the AMAZING gift of His grace – all of our sins forgiven in Jesus…
    • But that Grace is not a permit to live our life anyway we want – live in sin…
    • The Grace of God is the power ‘not to sin’ – free to live our life for Jesus!
    • Continuing in a lifestyle of sin – using ‘grace’ as an excuse – is abusing God’s gift!
• 3^rd – Consequences for choices… vs. 13-15
  • Israel had gone through a lot – but their punishment was not as severe as they deserved…
    • The wages of sin is death – Romans 6:23 – eternal separation from God…
    • Yet here was Israel testing the Grace of God – in danger of the judgment of God…
    • They were before the Lord in their guilt – and none of them could stand! 
  • In Matthew 22:1-14 – Jesus gave the parable of the wedding feast…
    • There was a man who came to God – wearing the wrong clothes…
    • Rather than showing up forgiven by Jesus  – Revelation 3:5 – clothed in white robes…
    • This man came in his clothes – his righteousness – his own good works…
    • When God questioned him about it – the man was speechless – muzzled!
    • Every one will one day stand before the Great white throne – Revelation 20:11
    • There are only 2 options as to what we can ‘wear’ as we stand before a Holy God…
    • We can stand in our own clothes – our own good deed – our righteousness…
    • And we will be judged by our works – we will stand there speechless…
    • Or we can be clothed in the white robes of forgiveness – freely given through Jesus Christ!

• 3^rd – The response of the people… vs. 1-5
  • 1^st – Confessing sin… vs. 1-2
    • Ezra was a great Scribe who arrived from Babylon with great wealth from King Artaxerxes…
      • Yet shortly after his arrival he sat fasting – with torn clothes – and ripped out beard…
      • Weeping over the sins of the nation – it caught the attention of the people…
      • So a large assembly of men / women / and children gathered and wept with him!
    • Shechaniah (abide in God) – one of the leaders of the people stood up…
      • He admitted – ‘we’ have sinned against the Lord – confessing the sins of the people…
      • Shechaniah did not have foreign wives – although his uncles did – Ezra 10:26
      • But it was not enough to weep / or even admit to the sin – there had to be a change…
      • If we make no effort to remove the sin from our life – did we really repent…
      • Repentance is more than just words – it is taking action to keep from sinning again
  • 2^nd – Divorce as the solution… vs. 3-4
    • The solution of Shechaniah was for all the men of Israel to divorce their pagan wives…
      • Not just divorce the wives – but also abandon the children of those marriages…
      • So Ezra made all the Priests / Levites / and all Israel swear they would do just that!
    • This seems an extreme – even unbiblical solution to the problem – Malachi 2:16…
      • But in the times of the Old Testament divorce was allowed – Deuteronomy 24:3
      • The only reason allowed for a divorce was ‘uncleanness’ on the part of the wife…
      • So presumably the idea was these pagan women were ‘unclean’ so could be divorced…
      • And their children – raised in their pagan ways – would want to go with them
    • Jesus clarified Divorce in the NT – when questions by the Pharisees – Mark 10:1-16
      • 1^st – Divorce is only allowed if there is ongoing adultery in the marriage…
      • 2^nd – Death – If your spouse dies – you can remarry – Romans 7:2
      • 3^rd – Abandonment – unbelieving spouse leaves permanently – I Corinthians 7:15
    • In fact Moses only allowed for divorce because of the hardness of men’s hearts…
      • It was not Gods desire – God meant for marriage to last for a lifetime!
      • Marriage is meant to help us understand God’s love for us – children / bride…
      • Marriage impacts our understanding of God’s love…
      • That is why satan takes such an effort in destroying marriages…
      • With no love in marriage – understanding of God’s Love is damaged…
      • The greatest gift we can ever give to our kids is to show them a loving marriage!
      • It is through our love and example that our kids learn of God’s love!

• 4^th – Confronting the people… vs. 6-44 Read: Ezra 10:6-17
  • 1^st – Confronting sin… vs. 6-15
    • Ezra rose up and went into the chamber of Jehohanan – the High Priest…
      • They issued a proclamation throughout Judah – to all the descendants of the captivity…
      • Everyone was to gather in Jerusalem within 3 days…
      • Anyone who failed to come would forfeit property / cut off from Israel (excommunication)!
    • All of Judah and Benjamin was quick to respond – and gathered at the Temple…
      • It was the 9^th month – November/December – and there was a heavy rain…
      • Meaning everyone was cold and wet – trembling because of the weather – and fear…
      • Fear over what Ezra might do – authority of Artaxerxes – to take land / cut them off…
      • Hopefully fear of the Lord – because they had sinned against God!
    • Ezra commanded the people to confess to the Lord – and separate themselves…
      • The people agreed – but asked for some time – it could not be done in 2 or 3 days…
      • Because many of the people had sinned – so A LOT needed to repent!
      • All of the people agreed – with the exception of 3 of the leaders (they had pagan wives)
      • It can be dangerous to confront people about their sin – they get upset…
      • At the very least they may not agree with us – because they do not want to stop their sin…
      • But they might get VERY upset yell at us – because they want to silence us!
      • But we are called to confront others in spite of how they react to us…
      • Our motive is love – we want to see them clean / forgiven – Ephesians 4:15
      • Not that we can make people turn back to Jesus – but we can warn them…
      • Hebrews 3:13 – “Exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
      • We might think it is kinder not to confront someone who is sinning…
      • But the truth is leaving someone in their sin – is condemning them to hell…
      • Not that we are not saddened when we see the hurt our words might cause…
      • But we rejoice to see them repent – restoring their relationship to Jesus!
  • 2^nd – Outward obedience… vs. 16-44
    • It took 3 months to examine all the people – find out who had pagan wives…
      • There were well over 100 – including priests – who were found guilty…
      • The question becomes how many of them actually obeyed – it would seem not all…
      • Because 15 years later the same problem would come back – Nehemiah 13:23
    • When people finally face the consequences for their actions – they are always sorry…
      • No one like consequences – no one wants to face the results of their sin…
      • But being sorry – does not always mean you have repented…
      • If we are just sorry we got caught – sorry because of our consequences…
      • Then we are not sorry for what we did – and given the chance we might do it again…
      • We have not changed – we did not turn from our sinful ways to Jesus…
      • Judas ‘regretted’ betraying Jesus – he was sorry for what he had done…
      • He tried to argue with the chief priests – but they could not forgive him…
      • He tried to cast the 30 silver coins on the floor – but it did not undo his sin…
      • He did not repent – he did not come back to Jesus – instead he hung himself…
      • The sorrow/regret of the world leads to death – because we do not run to Jesus!
      • II Corinthians 7:10 – “Sorrow without repentance… results in death.”
    • Only when we turn from our sin to Jesus – repent and be forgiven – that brings salvation!
      • Psalms 51:1-4 – “Against You, You only, have I sinned …”
      • If we confess our sin – any sin – Jesus will forgive us and make us clean again!
      • Godly repentance brings freedom – we are not longer bound by our past mistakes…
      • We are able to move beyond our failures – we begin to grow again in Christ!

I John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”