“The Greatest Cornerman Ever” // Ezra 1:1-4
The following is a manuscript of the sermon presented by Dr. Roger Patterson on Sunday January 23, 2022 at our Crosspoint Church-Bellaire campus. To view the sermon in full, check out the link below.
On June 25th, 1998, Lou Savarese defeated James Buster Douglas for the Boxing’s Heavyweight Championship of the world. Many of you know Lou. He owns Saverese’s Fight Fight just up the street.
Lou was so gracious in allowing us to film Fight For It at his gym. What a blessing!
As Lou and I were talking, I asked him about how he defeated Buster Douglas. He said…
“My trainer saw a pattern in Buster Douglas’ fighting style. Every time he would jab, he would drop his front shoulder and there would be an opening.” And then Lou said to me, “Rog, we put all of our eggs into that one basket. Douglas was favored to beat me big time. No one gave me a chance. But what my trainer said was exactly what happened. He dropped his front shoulder and that’s how we won.”
If you watch the fight on YouTube, you will see Lou knock Douglas out in the first round. When Douglas jabs, he drops that front shoulder down and there is this wide opening. In that first round, Lou pounced on him and knocked him down with his jab. It was just a matter of time from there and in 2:46 into the first round, Lou Savarese won the Heavyweight Championship of the World.
Let me ask you a question: Who is in your corner to help you win the fight that is currently underway? Who is standing with you, fighting for you, speaking wisdom and truth into your life?
Who is your cornerman…your trainer?
The time between the rounds is where the fight is won or lost. The cut man works to hydrate the fighter, stop the bleeding of any open cuts, and get the boxer as physically able to get back in the fight as possible.
But the trainer is key. The trainer is working – speaking words of truth, giving insight, reminding the fighter of the game plan for the fight. The trainer is overseeing the fight and is able to influence it from his years of experience and his expertise. It’s when a fighter trusts what his trainer sees and he walks in that plan that battles begin to be won.
I want to set the table for this message by looking at the context of this story once more.
In Isaiah 44, the prophet Isaiah is speaking of God’s plan. In Jeremiah 29, the prophet Jeremiah is speaking of God’s plan. And Ezra 1, opens with God’s Life-Changing Plan unfolding.
Listen to this cornerman…this trainer named Isaiah.
Isaiah 44:24, 26, 28
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself…
…who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
and I will raise up their ruins’…
…who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose’;
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”
Now, notice something with me. Notice in verse 28 that Cyrus is mentioned by name. This is unbelievable.
Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells the story of how Cyrus makes his grand entrance into Babylon and is met by an elderly Daniel with an old scroll written 150 years earlier by Isaiah which mentions the king by name. And neither Babylon or Persia were a world power when Isaiah wrote those words and Cyrus had yet to be born.
Recall also Jeremiah 29.
Jeremiah 29:10-11
“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. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah is speaking to a people enslaved, defeated, and in bondage. He is saying, God’s plan for you is greater than this defeat. God’s story for you is one where He will help you rise out of bondage with a hope and a future.
Now, look with me at today’s text. Look at how God works to create movement and invite us to join Him in what He is doing.
Ezra 1:1-4
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:
2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
Now, this story is about to get good. God was on the move to rebuild that which had been torn down. The Jews had sought the welfare of the city of Babylon and now they were invited to the next step in the journey. The words of Jeremiah that proclaimed a hope and a future and a return to the land were now upon them.
I want to frame up this teaching around these questions, as I am fully convinced our God is at work challenging us to fight for ourselves, our homes, our church, and our city.
Questions About Your Corner…
- Who is in your corner that God is stirring to speak into your life?
- What exile and bondage does the Lord want to bring you out of?
- What Does God want to build through you?
Let’s look at this first question.
I. Who is in your corner that God is stirring to speak into your life?
Look again at Ezra 1:1.
Ezra 1:1
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:
Definition: In HEBREW, the word “STIRRED” means to AWAKEN, to be MOVED or to be AROUSED!
Definition: In ENGLISH, the word “STIRRED” means to be emotionally moved or strongly affected, to become active as from some rousing impulse.
Now, don’t miss this. Remember, my question: Who is in your corner that God is stirring to speak into your life?
King Cyrus was who God put into Israel’s corner to deliver the people in exile AND to begin rebuilding the city of Jerusalem.
Application: Did you know that God will put people over us who aren’t necessarily godly that He will use to fulfill His purposes for our lives?
In this context, it’s the most powerful man in the world. He was stirred. He was awakened. He chose to build God a house.
Friends, here is what I want you to hear: Our Sovereign God controls KINGS and KINGDOMS.
Solomon wrote in Proverbs 21:1.
Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.
James Hamilton writes…
“The bad guys have their strongholds, but they remain God’s characters. This is God’s cosmic drama. He will have His way…The Bible shows us that God has the ability to move the stream of water (the king’s heart) such that life gets worse for God’s people, and God has the ability to stir up that stream of water such that God’s promises to restore and bless His people begin to be fulfilled.”
God had used Nebuchadnezzar to discipline his children and He is using Cyrus to liberate His children.
But notice something with me in this grand story. The book of Ezra is about the return to the land of Israel and Judah and the rebuilding of the Temple. The book of Nehemiah is about the rebuilding of the walls. It’s all one long rebuilding story.
But in this, God not only uses Cyrus, this great king, but He also stirs in Nehemiah many years later, the cup-bearer to the third Medo-Persian king.
Nehemiah 1:1-4
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
Quote: I write in Fight For It…
“When you look at each of the main characters in the stories of Ezra and Nehemiah, you see that their fight began with a burden which led to a vision. From the world’s most powerful man, to a cupbearer to the king, God uses people who can see more than what is before them to mobilize others to join the adventure.”
You see, God has put people in your life who can see beyond what you see. He has put people in your life who are near and dear to you and want your best. And they see the path you are on and they are stirred to speak up and help.
Students, it might be one of your parents who keeps noticing a pattern in you and it concerns them. Will you trust them and receive instruction from them?
Proverbs 1:8-9
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
9 for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.
Will you listen to your parent’s counsel to you? They give it to you because they love you and want what’s best for you.
Husbands, your wife might have a real gift of discernment. No one else in your life sees what she sees. She knows you deeply and where you are strong and weak.
Early on in our marriage, I didn’t understand that God had given this glass-more than half-full/always overflowing optimist a woman who is a realist. I didn’t understand her ability to discern. I had to learn the hard way that God had given to me a wife who was strong where I was weak and if I listened to her counsel, I would save myself a lot of pain.
Guys, are you listening to your wife? She is for you and not against you.
Wives, are you listening to God’s stirring in your husband? Do you see him burdened and weighed down for you and your family? Do you hear his burden about money or education or a career change? When he shares vision, do you think he is crazy or do you think God may be up to something?
Maybe its not your family members but someone in your Community Group, your Mops Group, or a friend at work that God is stirring in to lead to something more in your life. Maybe it’s a college roommate or a best friend.
Maybe it’s a message by one of your pastors!
Application Questions:
- Who has God put in your life to help lead you to his purpose?
- Who has God placed in your corner to lead you out of bondage into liberty?
- Who has God given you to speak words of truth that stir you?
Let’s look at our second question about our corners.
Questions About Your Corner…
- Who is in your corner that God is stirring to speak into your life?
- What exile and bondage does the Lord want to bring you out of?
- What Does God want to build through you?
II. What exile and bondage does the Lord want to bring you out of?
Let’s keep this big picture in mind. If you will study this story, reading the books of Ezra, Haggai and Nehemiah, you will see a long journey from the land of Babylon to a city that is thriving again. This journey isn’t just out of something, it’s also into something.
So, what does God want to lead you out from and into?
For the longest time, I was captive to food. It a problem on my side of the family. We have struggled with our weight and being overweight was just what we were. And when stress entered into the picture, watch out.
I don’t drink. That’s not my problem. But I can eat! And I would try and I would struggle and I would feel so defeated.
And one of my friends said to me last summer, “Why don’t you talk to us about your weight loss?”
And I said, “Because I’m too scared. I’m too scared I’ll go back.”
But if I had known then how much better I would feel 50 pounds ago, I would have paid the price sooner. I don’t ever want to go back!
Now, listen, there is a price involved. And you won’t pay the price for the journey out of bondage into liberty until the price to stay in bondage outweighs the price of liberty.
Let me say that again. There is a price involved. And that price is going to the broken places in our lives to allow the Lord to repair us and restore us.
And you won’t pay that high price until the price to stay put is greater and costs you more than the price of your freedom.
Let’s see this price I am talking about.
Ezra 1:3
2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
So, God stirs Cyrus and he invites others to leave Babylon and go back to Jerusalem to build the temple. Now, look at their response.
Ezra 1:5-7
Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. 6 And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. 7 Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods.
So, the price to out of captivity was a relocation to Judah the Southern kingdom. The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin that made up the southern kingdom left. But not everyone. Only approximately 50,000 people would make the journey.
The price involved faith that God was up to something. It involved offerings, as we aren’t to come to God’s house empty handed. The price involved leaving what was known for the unknown.
Now, think about this for a moment. Many people stayed right where they were. They stayed in the land of their captors. They had gotten used to this international city. They had grown accustomed to its luxuries, as there was no city like Babylon. They knew how to navigate its bondage.
And we do too, don’t we? We know what it’s like to stay stuck. We have gotten used to fielding a bad team. It’s not so bad being the New York Jets or the Detroit Lions.
Many of you listening to my voice today, in this room or online, are in bondage to something. It may be pain from your past. It may be addiction in your present. It may be a poor self-image. It may have to do with your father wounds.
I don’t know, but what saddens me is that you may choose to stay stuck in your pain and bondage because you know that price and understand it versus being willing to rise up to a new day, a new way and a new freedom.
No one forced these people to return. No, the Lord stirred in them.
Notice Ezra 1:5 again.
Ezra 1:5
Then rose up the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem.
These were stirred and they rose up.
Will you rise up? Will you listen to the stirring of the Spirit of God?
You see, here is the real question for you…and it’s our third question we are looking at today.
Questions About Your Corner…
- Who is in your corner that God is stirring to speak into your life?
- What exile and bondage does the Lord want to bring you out of?
III. What Does God want to build through you?
That’s the bigger question.
God wants to do something with you in this next season and you and I both know it. The question is will we go to the broken places in our lives so he can set us free from bondage and allow him to call us into this Promise Land once again?
You see, we all need a vision bigger than ourselves.
I write in the book these words…
“…Cyrus was charged to build a house for God. Keep in mind, this is the most powerful man in the world ruling the largest kingdom on earth. Verse 2 states, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, had given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” Is Cyrus an outlier, or might we too need a vision larger than ourselves? You see, if he, the most powerful man in the world was stirred to build God’s house, then who can claim exemption from this task?”
At a minimum, we need a vision for building God’s house. And we aren’t to come to God’s house empty handed.
What else does he want to build through you? How will you use your gifts and talent for His purpose and glory in this city and beyond?
You see, when you bring God your mess, He cleans it up and begins to heal you and give you a message.
Transition: Let me show you what I’m talking about with Lou Saverese’s Fight Story.
Insert Video: https://vimeo.com/667487596
(Bring Lou Up – honor him and pray for him)
Let me ask you this question. Will you be honest about your own fight and the bondage you are in?
Are you battling addiction? Alcohol…drugs…sex addiction?
We are launching CityRise Recovery on Wednesday, 2.23 at 6:30p.m. at our Crosspoint Student Ministry Building.
We also have recovery groups that meet and we can connect you.
Look, if Lou is willing to admit his struggle, why won’t you?
Are you in need of mental health counseling? Our counseling partner STCH Ministries can help.
What do you need to bring to light?
What has your corner man or woman been saying to you about what you need to be doing to win this fight you are in?