Well, it's good to see you. Brother Scott was saying a moment
ago, I'll be remembering those in our midst that are not well.
Obviously, it's good to have Linda back. I'll be remembering
also Daryl, and I know others that are not feeling well. Well, we're going to turn to
Ezra chapter 3. Ezra chapter 3, I'd like to deal
with verses 8 to 13, but also I want you to take your Bible
also and turn to the book of Haggai. Haggai is just before,
if you're looking in those last prophets there. If you see Zephaniah
or Zechariah, it is between those two Z's right there. So just
hold your hand there in Haggai also because I am going to be
going back and forth. So just help us to see. I want us to be able to look
at these Scriptures. I think it does us well to look
upon the Word and to read it. I mean, we hear it, but we need
to also look upon it. Let's look in Ezra 3, beginning with the 8th verse. It says,
Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God
at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel, the son of
Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Josadak, and the remnant of
their brethren, the priest and the Levites, and all they that
were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem, and appointed
the Levites from twenty years old and upward to set forward
the work of the house of the Lord. Then stood Joshua with
his sons and his brethren, Cadmeal and his sons, the sons of Judah,
together to set forward the workmen in the house of God, the sons
of Hinnadad with their sons and their brethren, the Levites.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the
Lord, they set the priest in their apparel with trumpets,
and the Levites, the sons of Atheth, with cymbals to praise
the Lord after the ordinance of David, king of Israel. And they sang together by course
in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord because He is good,
for His mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people
shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because
the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of
the priests and the Levites, the chief of the fathers who
were ancient men that had seen the first house when the foundation
of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud
voice and many shouted aloud for joy so that the people could
not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of
the weeping of the people. For the people shouted, with
a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off." Now, the portion of Scripture
that we deal with today sets forth the rebuilding of the temple
in Jerusalem. Now, Solomon, if you remember,
had built the temple. there in Jerusalem. And that
temple, that was a magnificent temple. It was gloriously built. I mean, we can go back and read
the Scripture that sets forth, I mean, the beauty of this temple. And that temple now lay in ruin. And the remnant out of Babylon
had been drawn together by the Spirit of God going back into
Ezra. You remember, Ezra 1, the Lord
moved upon Cyrus to allow the people by God's power, grace,
and mercy to come out. And they came back to their cities
and came together now and assembled there in Jerusalem for this event
to build this temple back. We look not at a temple of mortar
and wood in the rebuilding of this temple. If that is all that
we see, it is just a building. We have got a building here.
I love this building. I mean, this is a wonderful place
to meet. I think about all the work that
over the years has been put into building at this temple, but
this temple is not the church in Katy, West Virginia. This
is not the church. The church meets inside. This is a building, a church
building. But if it is mortar and wood,
if that is all we see in the rebuilding of this temple, then
we have missed the message. The Lord Jesus Himself says,
beginning with Moses in all the Scriptures, expounded under those
two on the road to Emmaus concerning Himself. And so what we are going
to behold this morning, Lord willing, is the glorious Lord
and Savior, Jesus the Christ, His person, His work, His character
in the salvation of His people, those that He has everlastingly
loved, those that shall surely be called out by His Spirit out
of the bondage of sin, for He has redeemed them by His blood. Now, to shed some light on this
passage of Scripture right here, what we need to do is turn over
to the book of Haggai. So turn over to Haggai chapter
2 and hold your hand or mark it in Ezra. Haggai chapter 2
and what we'll do is we'll do as 1 Corinthians 2 verse 13 says,
let's compare spiritual things with spiritual. Now if all we
knew about Ezra 3 was what we read in Ezra 3, there'd be a
whole lot of speculation going on, which we could do and we
could say, well, I think that it means this. I think they shouted. Some of them wept and some of
them shouted. Why? Why? Well, look over in Haggai
chapter 2, and let's just read the first three verses of Haggai
2 in the seventh month. In the one and twentieth day
of the month came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai,
saying, Speak now to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor
of Judah, and to Joshua, son of Joadech, the high priest,
and to the residue of his people, saying, Now here's verse three.
Now here's the key that these two scriptures right here are
talking about. Who is left among you that saw
this house? in her first glory. And how do
you see it now? Is it not in your eyes, in comparison
of it, as nothing? Now, we learn in the building
up of the temple, this second temple. They have come together
to build this temple. And it says when the foundation
was laid, when it started going up back in Ezra, it says that
we Some of those back in Ezra chapter 3 and verse 2, many of
the priests, Levites, chief of the fathers, who were ancient
men that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house
was laid before them, they wept with a loud voice. Many of them
shouted for joy. Now Haggai chapter 2 and verse
3 says, of those that wept with a loud voice, the Lord says,
among you that saw this house in her first glory. And how do
you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison
of it as nothing?" Now the reason that these men wept with a loud
voice, now here again I know that there could be a lot of
speculation. There is much that could be said
of the weeping. I can think for myself and I
know many of you. There have been times you read
something in Scripture, I'd be reading something, and the Lord
just seemed to impress that particular passage of Scripture upon my
heart, and it just gripped me. My eyes just welled up, and I
think, oh, that's so good. If I could just enter into that
continually, I'd understand that. And that's good, and it's true.
faithfulness of the Spirit of God to His people to burn within
their heart the truth. But these men right here, as
they were weeping, the Spirit of God revealed in Haggai 2 why. The Lord said, you've looked
on it, and He said, in your eyes. Is it not in your eyes in comparison
of it? Who of you saw the first one?
How many of you here saw that first house in her glory? How do you see it now as being
built? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Do you think of it as, you know,
you're weeping? What they were saying is, this
ain't the way it was. Well, here's the first thing
that we learn out of this passage of Scripture, out of Ezra. The
first thing we behold is that God has in every generation a
witness. How many of you here, he said,
how many of you remember? Some of these fellows, it had
been almost 70 years, but 50-something years before, that temple had
been destroyed. And some of them remembered.
They saw that. They saw that grand temple. Who is left among you? Alright,
so we perceive first of all that God had a people then, has a
people now, And He has a people in this day. Hold your places
there and turn with me to Psalm 145. Psalm 145, verse 3 and 4. Psalm 145, verse 3. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation
shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty
acts. One generation shall tell another
generation, Almighty God has purposed. There shall be continual
praise, and God will see to it that His watchmen continue in
the duty of faithful witness, each generation shall contribute
its chapter." How many of you here said, remember, that they
wept? They wept because the second
temple was not in their eyes as glorious as the first. But
we do perceive that there was a witness. How many of you remember?
Now, the Scripture says, flip back to Ezra chapter 3, and in
verse 10, The Scripture says that those in the laying of this
temple, in the every generation having a witness in Ezra 3, verse
10, it says, When the builders laid the foundation of the temple
of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets,
and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise
the Lord after the ordinance of David, king of Israel. And they sang together by course
in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord. Those, when that
temple was laid, they began to praise the Lord. They did. It
does say in that next verse, or the next few verses, some
of them wept. Some of them shouted for joy.
But those that were there, they sang by course. Now, let me show
you something. Here, I'm on that same point. that God has in every generation
a witness, a witness. This is to the faithfulness of
Almighty God. We read in these Scriptures how
the Lord from the beginning had a people and how there's men
that have been raised up in Scripture after Scripture after Scripture,
the Old Testament, the New Testament, but the Lord has a faithful witness
today. He has maintained the preaching
of His gospel today. And I know that there's much
that is being said that's not so. I understand that. But the
Lord has continued to raise up a generation after generation
after generation a witness. The Scripture says that when
they began to sing, verse 11, by course in praising. Now that phrase, by course, Turn
over, and look, Nehemiah is the next book after Ezra. Turn over to Nehemiah chapter
12, verse 24. Nehemiah 12, 24. Talking about they sang by chorus. Nehemiah 12, 24 says this, And
the chief of the Levites, Hashebiah, Cherubiah, Jeshua, son of Cadmiel,
with their brethren over against them to praise and to give thanks
according to the commandment of David, the man of God." And
you see that phrase, ward over against ward. Ward against ward. What that means is, watch the
ward. It was their time. It was their
period. Well, Scott, for you, for me,
this is our period. This is our time. Our ward, our
watch, watch against watch, they sang and praised the Lord in
singing chorus by chorus, ward by ward, watch by watch, the
watchman. The Lord is faithful. His Word, which is the power
of God unto salvation, shall be proclaimed to the calling
out of His sheep. God has a sheep. God has a people
in this generation. And if he tarries in the next
generation, which I don't know when those times... I don't know
when they overlap, but God has a people. And the calling out
of His people is according to His purpose and time and will.
And the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. It never
changes. Carl is the same. It's ward against ward, time
against time, watch against watch. And the same message that this
man right here has faithfully preached For years, the same
exact message, word against word, time against time, watch against
watch. So the Lord has a people and a faithful witness. How many
of you remember He said? Same witness, same time. They
praised the Lord. Secondly, we notice, turn back
to Ezra, the witness, secondly, of every watch is the same. The first point was there is
a faithful watch. Ward against ward. They sang
chorus by chorus. But the witness of every watch
is the same. Listen, God's message, God's
Word concerning the Lord Jesus Christ has never changed. This
is not a new message. This is not a new and up and
coming. You know, we've got a new way,
Bob, of doing it. No, we don't. We preach Christ
and Him crucified. The message is the same. Back
in Ezra chapter 3 in verse 11, it says, They sang together by
course, in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord. Now, what
did they sing? Here is the message that they
sang, Because He is good, for His mercy endureth forever toward
Israel. That was the message that they
sang. He is good. God is good. There is none good but God. His
mercy endureth forever toward Israel. Now, there is something
that was stated right there that is altogether lovely, altogether
wonderful. His mercy endureth forever. The mercy of the Lord is the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Now, I know that we think, and
I understand this. I don't have any problem. I do
the same thing. We think of mercy, the mercy
of God, that it is an attitude. And it is. God is merciful. We think of mercy as being an
act. I'm going to show mercy to you.
And I understand that. feeble, fickle minds, we try
to perceive mercy, that it is an act or an attitude or a way
in which God is merciful. The mercy of God is a person. He is called mercy itself. Now, let me show you this. Turn
to Luke 1.68. Luke 1, 68. And I'm going to
show you what I'm talking about. The mercy
of God. It's more than an attitude. I'll
be honest with you, I don't know how to explain it. But I can
tell you that the Scripture sets forth that the mercy of God is
a person. Luke 1, 68-72 says this, Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel. For He hath visited and redeemed
His people." So whatever we know so far, we know this. God Almighty,
He is blessed. He has visited and redeemed His
people. He has raised up an horn of salvation
for us in the house of His servant David. Obviously, who is He speaking
about? The Lord Jesus Himself raised
Him up as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which hath
been since the world began, that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all that hate us." Verse 72, to perform
the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant. Now, the key to that last statement,
that last verse, to perform the mercy, That word perform there means
to make, to do, to fulfill, to give, to provide, to perform. To perform. He will perform the
mercy. Now, would that thought turn
to Psalm 98? Psalm 98. I know we're turning
a lot, but that's alright. That's why we're here. Psalm
98. Psalm 98. in verse 3. He will perform the mercy. He
will do it. He will fulfill it. He will reveal
it. Psalm 98, verse 3, the Scripture
says, He hath remembered His mercy and His truth toward the
house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have
seen the salvation of our God. What did the prophet, what did
the priest in the temple say when he held the Lord Jesus Christ,
that little baby? He said, Lord, I pray you take
me now, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Isn't that what
he said to you? I've seen your salvation. He
was looking at the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate
Christ. The scripture says God hath remembered
That word, remember, right there means to mark or to make mention. Mark him out. That's what John
says. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin. Mark him out. There he is. He
set him forth. That's what it means to remember
or perform. Christ Himself, the firstborn
in the womb of God's mercy. Mercy is not an attitude. Mercy
is a person. God remembered. God remembered,
it says, His mercy and His truth. What did Christ say of Himself?
He said, I am the way. Truth is not an attitude. Truth
is a person. The Lord said, I remembered.
I remembered my mercy and my truth. Christ Himself. All mercy from Almighty God is
found in the person. of the Lord Jesus Christ. His
mercy. Back in Ezra. Ezra chapter 3
and verse 11. He said, they sang together by
course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord because
He is good. Look at this. For His mercy endureth forever
toward Israel. His mercy endureth forever. Christ
endureth forever. He ever liveth to make intercession. His mercy endureth forever, but
Christ endureth forever. God's mercy toward His elect
is an everlasting mercy. When we were yet in trespasses
and sins, God was merciful. He died for us and remembered
His everlasting covenant. As we travel through the wilderness
of this world, His mercy endureth forever. He never leaves us nor
forsakes You and I, believers, we join course by course, watch
by watch, ward by ward in singing the song of praise for the mercy
of God endureth forever. The reason our hope is secure
is because the mercy of God endureth forever. And then thirdly, back
in Ezra, all believers need renewing in their minds concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. That is, point me to Him again. Tell me one more time. We need
that. We are frail creatures, children
of dust. Back in Ezra chapter 3, verse
12 and 13, It says, But many of the priests
and the Levites, the chief of the fathers who were ancient
men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of
this house was laid before their eyes, they wept with a loud voice,
and many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not
discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the
weeping of the people. For the people shouted with a
loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. Now this event
right here sets forth an amazing moment in the history of the
rebuilding of the temple. It actually happened. Scripture
says it did. It said that they began to look
upon that temple. The foundation had been laid.
Obviously, there had been a raising up of some walls. They looked
at it. They saw it. As we have read over in Haggai,
The Lord revealed the hearts of those that wept. He said,
Is it in your eyes as if it was nothing in comparison to the
first? This event set forth the hearts
of those that were there. Some wept with a loud voice. Some of them shouted for joy. Well, Haggai, by the mercy and
grace of Almighty God. God's mercy to His people to
teach us, to show us our hope in Christ. God, by His Spirit,
moved upon Haggai to write down what actually happened. So turn
back and hold your hand in Ezra there. Turn over to Haggai back
in chapter 2. And let's read again. Verse 3,
Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes, in comparison
of it, as nothing?" Now that first temple, that former temple,
Solomon's temple, just by reading and finding out, was about twice
the size of the second. It was big. And the outward splendor
of that first temple made it to appear as though that it was
glorious. I mean, it was magnificent. Go
back and read when Solomon built that temple. And I mean the stuff,
the gold, the woodwork, the stone, polished stones. absolutely a jewel to behold. And I realize that the outward
splendor of that first temple surely made the second to appear
less appealing to the human eye. I understand that. But, and let
me just quote this Scripture, you can look later if you want
to, Ecclesiastes 7.10 says, What is the cause that the former
days were better than these? The Lord says, For thou dost
not inquire wisely concerning this. Don't say. Don't say. Well,
I'll tell you what. Well, the good old days, I'll
tell you what, things were a whole lot better then than they are
now. Man, I'll tell you, the good old days, I've heard people
talk about the good old days. I know a little bit about the
good old days. And I'll tell you this, I don't
think I'd want to trade them, you know, for now. Don't say, don't say, what's
the cause that the former days were better than these? You know
what we're doing when we say that? We're saying that God's
providence and the ordering of steps of His people is not sufficient. That God has unwisely made these
days to not be as glorious as Don't say that. He says what
you're saying is you're not inquiring wisely. Don't say. The Lord questioned. Why? You that saw the former
temple, is it in comparison to what you see now? Is it not what
you think it ought to be? Here we see the Lord drawing
away the outward splendor of ceremony and preparing the hearts
of the people for the coming of the Messiah who would be born
in a manger. They looked at Solomon's temple.
They saw it. Oh, I tell you what, man. Look
at that thing. I'll tell you how it used to
be. I'll tell you the way we used to do it around here. I'll
tell you. Man, those doors were just, oh,
it was wonderful. This one right here, I don't
think. Here we behold Christ. God Almighty, the Lord of glory,
who took upon Himself the form of sinful flesh, humbled Himself,
made Himself no reputation, born in a manger, grew up in a home
of humility, lived, walked according to His Word, having no place
to lay His head. laid down His life for His people
and buried in a borrowed tomb. Can that be the Christ? Can that
be Him? Why do you say that that former
temple, they saw that temple first and here is this second
temple. This is a spiritual picture. Why do you say that the former
was not in comparison to this Why do you say that was better?
You're not speaking wisely, he said. In Haggai 2, in verse 9,
the Lord saying, The glory of this latter house shall be greater
than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts. And in this place
will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. Look at verse
6 in Haggai 2. For thus saith the Lord of hosts,
Yet wants It is a little while, and I'll shake the heavens and
the earth and the sea and the dry land." He just asked them,
verse 3, is it not in your eyes in comparison as it's nothing? The Lord will come soon, the
Scripture says. Yet once in a little while, actually
500 years was going to pass from the writing of Haggai till the
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord said, just a little
while. But you know a thousand years,
as to the Lord, is a day. What time? To the Lord of glory. He is eternal. Just a little
while. And He said concerning this second,
He told them now in verse 9, the glory of this latter house
is going to be greater. He said, you look at it and you
think that the first one was better. You look at that first
house and you put in all of that house's beauty and glory and
magnificence, I think about we're going through the book of Leviticus,
and we're considering the priesthood. And you look at that priest,
the high priest, and we went through, you know, how the laying
of that robe that was on Aaron, How beautiful. And it was woven
with gold and silver. I mean, gold and blue and purple. The threads, and it glowed in
there. And the turban that was upon
His head and that mitre that was placed, that plate that said,
Glory to the Lord. And He had that breastplate upon
Him and that pouch, that urim and thummim was down inside had
these stones and golden bells and pomegranates and the stones
of onyx on each of His shoulders. And He'd come out to minister
and He would just glow in the sunlight. And they looked at
Him and said, oh, my goodness, look, there's the high priest
right there. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
born in a manger and He walks around. He looks. He couldn't even pick him out.
Here he is. John said, there he is. And this
is speaking of him when the Lord says, the glory of this latter
house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts.
In this place will I give peace. In him. He is the peace. He is
God's peace. Him. Aaron was tight with a picture. And the Lord says, you're looking
and you're remembering that former. You know, and it's in your eyes
that comparison is nothing. This house, this one right here,
he says in verse 7, I'll shake all the nations. I'll come in
power and I'll overthrow Satan's kingdom in power, loosing the
shackles of the bondage of sin upon his people. Shake the nations. His people. The nation of his
people. not to ruin them, but to reveal
in the shaking of their need of Christ. He says in verse 7,
Haggai 2, 7, I will shake all nations, and the desire of all
nations shall come. The desire shall come. God has a people, an elect people
according to Revelation 5, Nine, a people in every nation, in
every kindred, every tribe, every tongue, God has a people. So every nation is going to be
shaken by the Spirit of God effectually calling out of darkness His elect. He said, My sheep shall hear
My voice. They will follow Me. All the
nations, the desire of all nations shall come. Christ shall come. And those who have been called
out of darkness, He is their desire. Every poor sinner, those
made to see themselves as sinners, revealed to themselves to be
sinners. That is a rare thing. to find
a sinner, one that truly needs the Lord Jesus Christ. A sinner.
One that needs a substitute. A sinner. The desire of all the
nations shall come. Turn to 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel. That's back from Ezra. It's back
toward the first part of the Bible. 2 Samuel. 23 and verse 5, David speaking, 2 Samuel 23,
5, he says, Although my house be not so with God, yet He hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, ensure,
for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although He
make it not to grow. He is my desire. He is all my
desire. Made so by the Spirit of God
giving David a heart after Christ. Look at Proverbs. Proverbs chapter
3. Proverbs 3. 13. Proverbs 3. 13 to 15. is the man that findeth wisdom,
and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is
better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof
than fine gold." She is more precious than rubies, and all
the things that thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. There is no desire like the desire
of Him. who is wisdom. That's what Solomon
said in Proverbs. Happy is the man that finds wisdom.
Who is wisdom? Who is wisdom? Well, 1 Corinthians
1.30 says Christ is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. The Scripture reveals in Haggai
I'll shape the nations, and the desire of all the nations shall
come, Christ Himself. And I will fill, in verse 7,
I'll fill the house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts, though
the world sees no beauty in Him, and it doesn't. His people shall
see His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father,
full of and truth. And here, as we begin to close,
is why Scripture says that this latter
house shall be greater than the former. Christ Himself shall
actually come. He will come in human flesh.
That is what the Scripture reveals. The spiritual temple, which is
the church shall be honored by His presence in spirit. And those
that wept at the sight of the second temple because, according
to Haggai 2, it appeared in their eyes in comparison as nothing,
God Almighty saw and knew their hearts were set upon the outward
magnificence. This is why I said that we need
to be reminded of Him continually. There is a spirit within us that
needs to be reminded. We need to be told again. Tell
me again. Remind me again. Preach to me
again. God Almighty had told them, He
said that second temple, it didn't have the walls of polished and
stone and gold and silver and woodwork. And the Lord answered
them. He said, In your heart, this
is what you thought about. In your eyes it was in comparison
as nothing. He answered them in Haggai 2
and verse 8 when they thought about the glory of it. And He
knew what they thought. It was greater. He has told them
in verse 8, he says, the silver is mine, the gold is mine, saith
the Lord of hosts. He says, can I not furnish you
out of the storehouse of my wealth? You looked at it. Psalm 24 says,
the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and
all that dwell therein. What is silver? What is gold
but the guts? garbage of this world. Just something
they just dug out. Dug out of the dirt. Job 22,
25 says, Yea, the Almighty. And you might want to look this
up. Just remember this one. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy
defense. If you look in the margin of
your Bible, in the word right there, your defense, that word
is interpreted gold. He said, I'm your gold. You looked
upon the former things. You looked upon the outward.
And you said things were better. Let me tell you something. It's
never been better than it is now. This is it. That Almighty
God would open up a man or a woman's heart and reveal Christ to them.
That in itself is altogether glorious. He said, what silver
and gold? He said, I'm your gold. In Job 22, 25, ìYea, the Almighty
shall be thy defense, thy gold, and thou shalt have plenty of
silver.î And again, look in the margin, it says, ìSilver of strength.î
Psalm 118, 14 says, ìThe Lord is my strength and my song and
has become my salvation.î Truly, back in Haggai 2, 9, the glory
of this latter house shall be greater than the former. saith
the Lord." In the first temple, in that outward show, as I was
talking about Solomon, in that time of that temple, that high
priest, his majesty covered itself in a cloud, in a type, in a shadow. But in that second temple, that
one that they looked at and they said, oh man, I don't know, that
doesn't look, the Lord says in the this ladder house, the glory
in this ladder house was greater. The temple of His incarnation
was not covered with a cloud, not a type, not a shadow, not
a picture. The Scripture says in John 1
14, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us And John says,
"...and we beheld His glory." The Lord opened our hearts and
we saw Him. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. I'll read this for you. 1 John
1, 1-3. John says, "...that which was
from the beginning, which we've heard, which we've seen with
our eyes, which we've looked upon in our hands, have handled
of the word of life, for the life was manifested, and we have
seen it. And we bear witness and show
unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested
unto us, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you,
that ye also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. In this place and His incarnation
will I give, the Lord said, I can have God, I'll give peace. For He is the Prince of Peace. I know that in our fickle way
of thinking, we can look upon things and we say, boy, I'll
tell you, man, it must have been magnificent. Look and see that
temple back then. Oh, man, if I'd have been there,
Man, that would have been something to see. Sacrifices. The Lord says the glory of this
latter house is greater. To have God Almighty reveal unto
our heart the glory of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, having
come into this world, took our place, the place of His people,
His elect. You see, I laid down my life
for the sheep. He says, in that latter house,
he said, I'm going to send peace.