Would you join me this morning
in the book of Ezra? The book of Ezra, chapter three. Ezra chapter three, and I would
like to read the last two verses of that chapter. We touched on that 12th chapter a little bit,
but we looked at verse 11 last week, and in this 12th chapter,
It shares with us the feelings of the old folks, the ancients
they are called. Those who remember what it was
like to be in Jerusalem before it fell. Those who were in Jerusalem
who could remember what the temple looked like before it was dismantled
and burned, before parts of it had been carried off. And there
are people today that tell us where some of those parts are,
but guess what? They haven't been found. In the book of Ezra chapter 3
verse 12, but many of the priests and Levites and 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. Not only wept, but wept with
a loud voice. And many that were there that
day 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. People shouted with a great shout. There must have been quite a
few ancients older folks that remembered what it was like to
see the temple in its original structure. There had been 70
years that they'd been carried off, so they were older folks. It tells us that when they saw
the laying of the foundation of this temple, the second temple
that's going to be built, in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah
that they remembered what the other one was like so much and
this one paled in comparison that they wept out of sadness
for it was nothing like the other one. We could compare the two
temples and see that there was several differences between the
first temple that was built under Solomon's reign. David had a
desire to build a temple, but he was prevented. And his son
Solomon was permitted to go ahead and build it during his reign.
Now, I don't think Solomon did very much of the labor. He had
a lot of folks doing it for him. But it was, no doubt, a very
beautiful, pristine building that had been built there in
Jerusalem at the exact same place where Abraham had offered up
his son Isaac. There were many things that took
place right there and it was here that these stones were laid
upon a great rock in that building of that temple during Solomon's
reign. It tells us that the circumstances
during that time of building that first Temple was so much
different than the building of the second temple in fact it
tells us that during Solomon's reign all the years of Solomon's
reign that Judah and Israel dwelt safely every man under his own
vine It was a safe place to be during
Solomon's reign. It was a safe place to be during
the building of that temple. And we find out here during the
building of this temple that it was perilous times. In fact,
if you'll read chapter 4 verse 1 with me, now when the adversaries
of Judah and Benjamin heard that, the children of the captivity
built the temple of the Lord God of Israel, then they came
to Zerubbabel and goes on to say, we want to help you. And
then when he said, no, you're not, because you have no part
in this, they wrote a letter. And as a result of that letter,
the work was stopped. So the difference in times was
so different. Here during Solomon's reign,
everybody was at peace and as the symbolism goes out, everybody
dwelt under their own vine. There was no need to have a sword.
There was no need to have any defenses because God took care
of it in that manner. During the building of The second
temple, the folks were surrounded by folks who didn't want them
there. They'd had 70 years to run across Jerusalem, and they
wrote a letter to the king back there in Babylon that says, if
you just check the records, you find out these guys are not very
good guys, and they'll rebel against you. And you know what
he did? He found out they were not very
good people, and they all rebelled against him. The second temple
was missing some things We just heard read over there
in the book of Hebrews that The law having a shadow of good things
to come and not the very image of the things There was some
things missing in the second temple that was present in the
first temple in the first temple They had built a mercy seat And
they had covered it with a golden cover that had cherubims over
it. And it was beautiful. And that
was missing in this second temple. It was taken away. Nobody knows
exactly what happened to it, but the Jews take record to say
that it was taken away and never found again. We have a couple
of other items that were kept in the pockets of the high priest,
the Urim and Thummim. They didn't have that at this
temple. Other scholars say that the sacred
fire and the Shekinah glory did not appear in this temple as
it had in the earlier temple. But when it all boils down to
the weeping of these ancients about the building of this new
temple, and we only have it during the foundation being laid, as
the record shares with us, they could see what this place was
going to look like in their mind's eye from the foundation. It was not as grand as the earlier
foundation. It was not going to be as grand
a building. They were building it under great different terms.
And we can rest assured. from the hearts of those folks,
those ancients, as they looked around and saw that this pale
compared to what the original was, that those who wept in view
of the second temple did so on account of the want of things
ornamental only. The gold wasn't there like it
once was. The silver wasn't there like
it once was. The great boards were not there
like it once was. The cedars were not there like
it once was. They wept not because of spiritual things, but they
wept because it didn't have the ornaments. And that was a sad day, that
if we weep only because it doesn't have the ornaments. During this
period of time, there were three prophets that were contemporaries
of the rebuilding of the temple. In Ezra chapter 5, would you
turn over there with me for just a moment? Ezra chapter 5 and
verse 1, it mentions one of these prophets and we have his short
book that he wrote as a result of being a contemporary and being
authorized and commanded by the Holy Spirit to write down these
things to share with the people of Israel, of Judah and Benjamin
that came back, to share with them what God had to say. in
Ezra chapter 5, and then the prophets Haggai, the prophet,
and Zechariah, the son of Ido, prophesied unto the Jews that
were in Jerusalem, Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the
God of Israel, even unto them. So we have a prophet Haggai that
is a contemporary. It is believed that he was about
18 years after, his prophecy was about 18 years after the
command for these folks to leave Babylon and go back to Jerusalem
and back to Israel there. There's a time period in there,
but here's someone that is going to write to them and comfort
them. How gracious God is to comfort
his people from the scriptures. In fact, it tells us, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people. how comfortable it is for God's
people to be comforted. And to some people, it's just
radical words that mean anything. And to God's people, oh, the
comfort of Israel is given to me. The comfort of God is given
to me. And so it is with Haggai. So
there is a little book called Haggai. Would you turn there
with me? It's over there in the little books, the narrow books,
the thin books. It's right after Habakkuk and
Zephaniah. The book of Haggai, a prophet
that was contemporary with Ezra and with Nehemiah, and was there
during the building of the temple. They may not have been there
during the building of that foundation. But he is going to be used. like all prophets of God, to
share there is comfort in God Almighty even in the worst of
days. I was thinking this morning while
Mike was speaking that there is one way God always shares
with us his providence, and it is quick to change sometimes.
That's the weather. He's in charge of it, every bit
of it. People say, ''How do you like
the weather?'' I says, ''Well, since I have no control over
it and I know who does, I'm just going to take it like it is.''
But there are times I want to complain about it. My grandmother
said, ''If you don't like the weather around here, stay five
minutes and it will change for you.'' But all of it falls out
as the result of the ever-present Almighty God. Now, just as that is and we can
see it move day by day. I came out here, it was dark,
cloudy, and it wasn't an hour, I peeked out the kitchen window
and I saw the sunshine on the hill over here. I said, hallelujah. That's God's providence and it
moves so quickly for us. But here we have God's providence
through a prophet by the name of Haggai. And in chapter 2,
would you turn there with me? Chapter 2 of the book of Haggai.
In the seventh month, and on the 1 and 20th day of the month,
came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai saying, it
may have been raining. It may have been sunshine. It
may have been all kinds of weather, but it was on this day and at
this time that Lord spoke to Haggai the prophet and left us
this message. Speak on now to Zerubbabel, the
son of Sheutiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son
of Joshedek, the high priest, and to the residue of the people
saying, who is left among you that saw this house in her first
glory? Now this is about 17 years later.
I wonder if there's any of those ancients left. And how do you
see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison
of it as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel,
saith the Lord, and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedek the
high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith
the Lord, and work, for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts.
According to the word that I have covenanted with you when you
came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you, fear ye
not. For thus saith the Lord of hosts,
yet once, and it shall, and in a little while, and it shall
shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land.
And I, and you know most people think that is just going to be
earthquakes by the dozens and droves. How does God shake this
earth more than any other way? With his word. If you have never
been shaken by the word of God, I pray God will do that for you
today, that you will be shaken from stem to stern, that God's
word grabs a hold of you and turns you upside down. There was a passage over there
that Mike read in the book of Malachi. I underlined it and
wrote it out, and someday I'm going to put a message out there,
but I'm just going to share this. He is not going to let the root
or the branch remain. And you know what that's talking
about? He will not let his people stand
on one of their positions that they had before God saved them. And there's not one sprout of
a branch that he will allow in his robe of righteousness. Nothing
is left. It is new and new every day. Goes on to say, I will shake
all nations and the desire of all nations shall come. I will
fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver
is mine and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. You
can't see it from the outside and if you are permitted on the
inside, you're not going to see it like it used to be. But I
am telling you this, the glory, verse 9, the glory of this latter
house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts,
and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.
And we say, what in the world is he talking about? The glory
of this house It looks kind of dreary. It doesn't have all the
gold. It doesn't have all the cedars.
It doesn't have all the silver. It doesn't have all the glory
of that first house. But the glory of this house will
be greater than the previous house. How in the world can that
happen? The glory of the latter house. What does this mean? Look at
verse 7 there. I will shake all nations and
the desire of all nations shall come. And I will fill this house with
glory, saith the Lord of hosts, the desire of all nations. Now
those folks down there in New Guinea and those folks across
the United States that love God Almighty. And those folks in
anywhere that God has a sheep, God has a people, God has raised
up a people for himself. The Lord Jesus Christ is their
desire. It's not in a building. It's
not in the finery. It's not in religion as we have
so so confidently declared from the word of God that our hope
is in the Lord who made heaven and earth. Our hope is in God
Almighty and here the desire of all nations. Now if you go
into a building and you start to hear something and the desire
of Christ is not the center, I would get up and walk out.
We're not interested in anything else because he is the desire
of his people and his people want to hear about their desire. Most of you know I love ice cream. And for dessert, I desire it
over anything else. Maybe a little gob on a piece
of cherry pie. You know what I mean. And the
desire God gives His people is to desire Jesus Christ and Him
crucified over anything else. Doctrine can't compare. Affiliation
can't compare. Nothing can compare to Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. We find that the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ is going to fill the second house. Well,
if we go over to the book of 2 Chronicles, we read about when
that house was completed. And Solomon concluded the prayer
of dedication and offered all of those sacrifices. Would you
turn with me back to the book of 2 Chronicles for just a moment?
2 Chronicles chapter 7. In 2 Chronicles chapter 7, verses
1, 2, and 3. 2 Chronicles chapter 7, verses
1, 2, and 3. We have these words so delightfully
recorded for us, and it isn't the ornament that made it beautiful. It isn't the wood. It isn't the
stones. It isn't the cedars, though they
were beautiful, but the real beauty they could not even behold. Now verse 7 chapter 7 verse 1
now when Solomon had made an end of praying The fire came
down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and sacrifices
That is a picture of Christ and him crucified Complete satisfaction God understood
complete satisfaction in the death of his son and the Lord
Jesus Christ. He put away sin forever. Now it goes on to tell us here,
and the priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because
the glory of the house had filled the Lord's house. When all the
children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory
of the Lord upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces
to the ground upon the pavement and worshiped and praised God
saying, For he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Mercy precludes. There's a problem. And God's mercy withholds justice. Didn't withhold it from the sacrifice,
but withholds it from those he died for. Now, would you turn
with me over to the book of Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. There was a lot of weeping going
on when the ancients saw that. Foundation be in place. Now those
that hadn't known any different, they shouted with joy. Hallelujah. Finally the foundation is laid.
I see something. I see something. I can see what
this is going to be like in its completed state. It's going to
take a while, we understand. But in its completed state, I
can see the beauty of this temple. But the ancients, because it
was not ornamented as the old one. It was not decorated as
the old one. It didn't have the porches as
the old one. It didn't have the ascent as
the old one. All they could think about was
it didn't have the ornamentation as the old one. But this new
temple is going to be very special. because the person Christ Jesus
never stepped into that old one, but the person Christ Jesus,
our Lord, was going to step into the second one. It was going
to have more glory than the first because the only glory that was
there was the glory that came down in that cloud, but the glory
of God Almighty was going to be a walking, talking person. when he came to this earth for
the purpose of paying for the sins of his people, and he's
going to walk into this temple, and glory is going to be more
glorious than the glory had ever been seen. Here in the book of
Matthew chapter 12 verse 5, we read these words. Matthew chapter
12 and verse 5. The Lord Jesus says here, Or
have you not read in the law how that on the Sabbath days
the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless?
And he's talking about the Sabbath. Now, I read something. It's recorded
among the Jewish literature. There never was a Sabbath at
the temple. Never was a Sabbath at the temple. Every day was a work day. Those
priests worked every day and even on the Sabbath they worked. And the Lord's bringing that
out here. Now look at the next verse with me. But I say unto
you that in this place is one greater than the temple. I say unto you that in this place
is one greater than the temple. The picture was right there,
the temple, the stone, the wood, the gold, the silver. And it
was honored more than the true meeting place of God in his son,
the Lord Jesus. Jump right across to the book
of Mark, if you would. I want to show you this, the
book of Mark chapter 13. Mark chapter 13, we have this
illustrated. As there were folks that honored,
notice this, Mark chapter 13 verses 1 and 2. Jesus has just
shared with us, and truly his word is great and wondrous in
the hearts of the church. Yes, there is someone here greater
than this stone building. Yes, there is someone here greater
than all these sacrifices that have been going on. There is
one here that is greater in one word than all the words the priest
had ever declared. This one Jesus Christ, born of
a virgin, grew up and came into this place a number of times
into the second temple that the ancients cried because it wasn't
as grand as the old temple and yet the Lord Jesus shares with
us through the prophet Haggai and encourages those people in
that day and in that time, this temple is going to see more glory
than the temple that was built by Solomon because The desire
of all nations is coming here. Right here, in this temple. And
his word is going to be met with ridicule by the priests and comfort
by sinners. Mark chapter 13. Mark chapter
13, verse 1. And as he went out of the temple,
one of his disciples says unto him, Master, see what manner
of stones and what buildings are here. Just take a look around, Lord.
This temple has been here for about 350 years and under Herod
it was improved and more grandeur and more ornamentation and please
look at the stones and the wood and the gold. You know what Jesus
said about that? Next verse. He said here, Mark
chapter 13 and verse 2 and Jesus entering and said unto him seest
thou these buildings There shall not be One left be left one stone
upon another that shall not be thrown down AD 70 Titus Caesar
came in and Dismantled that one more time now why in the world
is respected Christendom would want it built again is beyond
me when we have a temple not made with hands. The Lord Jesus
Christ is more glorious than any building that has ever been
built. One word from his mouth brings
peace to his people. far greater than any building
could ever do wherever it was built. As I think about this,
I think of the ways that the Lord Jesus endured himself to
his people by revelation. He shares with his people. We
go back to Isaiah chapter 53, who hath believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Then we find, Every once in a
while, there's a prophet that's raised up like Haggai, or Ezra,
or Nehemiah, or one of the other prophets, Isaiah or Jeremiah,
that have a grasp on some things given to them by the Holy Ghost,
and they see through this pail of earthly things, and see the
glory of God Almighty in the face of Jesus Christ. Doesn't come naturally. We're
not born with that. In our first birth, but all in
our second birth, we're given the ability of seeing the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. A far greater temple, place of
meeting where God meets with his folks. Now this revelation
reminds me of going over here. I hate to steal Brother Mike's
thunder when he gets to chapter two, but I'm going there. Chapter
2 of the book of Luke, would you join me there? Luke chapter
2, verse 25. The Bible is one book covering
one subject. Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
saving His people from their sins. And here in the book of
Luke chapter 2, verse 25. As we think about the very infancy
of our Savior as he came, a body that has prepared for me. Sacrifices
and offerings I'm tired of, because people are trusting those things
and not God. They're trusting those sacrifices
and not Christ in him crucified, the promised one who would put
away sin. So here in the book of Luke chapter
2 and verse 25, we have somebody that had been given the ability
to trust God with this. And he is an ancient. And he's been down to the temple
a number of times. And you know what? He had been
revealed to him that one of these trips he came down to the temple,
he's gonna see something. I wonder if he came every day.
Or did he just come this day because it was impressed upon
him to come? I don't know. But he lived there close to that
temple and he saw it all the time. But when he came in this
day, all of the ornamentation of that temple paled in comparison
to someone he held in his arms. Now all babies are cute, aren't
they? But this one is the only one that ever had these words
written about and quoted by an ancient that may have been back
there and, you know, I'm just conscious of the fact that if
he'd have seen the second foundation built, he'd have shouted for
joy because he was not tied into ornamentation. Here in the book
of Luke chapter 2 and verse 25 we read these words, Then behold,
there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and the
same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of
Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. Now that reminds me
of that verse over here in the book of Luke chapter 1 where
it says, Well, says that they were, didn't
put it in my notes. Verse 6 of chapter 1, and they
were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blameless. You ever wanted to do that? Walk
in all of the ordinances and commandments of the Lord blameless.
Without anybody, even God, ever bringing up any of those things? Only one way that that ever happens,
and that's the new birth. That's when the blood of Christ
is made evident to us. The purchase was made and is
real. All right, verse 26 of Luke chapter
2. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. Did you know that applies to
every sheep? Every sheep. They'll not die
until they see the Lord's Christ. That's a promise. He came by the spirit into the
temple, the second temple, that to the ancients was not as beautiful
as the first, didn't have the ornamentation. But when Simeon
comes in, it wasn't the ornamentation that he was looking for, he was
looking for a savior. A body thou hast prepared for
me. The parish brought in the child Jesus, we have him identified. They shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. I'm looking
for the consolation of Israel, the next thing we have. they
brought in Jesus and to do for him after the custom
of the law then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and
said Lord now let us thy thou thy servant depart in peace according
to thy word for my eyes have not seen the temple But my eyes
have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the
face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the
glory of thy people Israel. It tells us in the church, would
you turn with me to the book of Revelation chapter 21. That temple was torn down on
purpose. That second temple was torn down
on purpose. God had it torn down on purpose.
He stirred up a Roman seizure to go up there to Jerusalem and
cause those people to submit to Rome. They had rebelled against
Rome and he was going to make them submit to Rome. Well, in
all of that, that man allowed his soldiers to dismantle that
temple and it has not been there for 2,000 years on purpose. Why? Because we have a temple. We have a place where God meets
his people. We have a Savior. His name is
Jesus. It's been revealed to His sheep
that it is He that we seek after. And here in the book of Revelation
chapter 21 and verse 22, Revelation chapter 21 and verse 22, we don't
need a building. Now, I appreciate this building
more than you'll ever know. It's not drafty. It's warm. It's
cool. It's a nice place to meet. You
know, to many people, this just isn't up to standard. We got
to have ornamentation to make it appealing to people. We don't
have much ornamentation, but we have the son of God. We have Him who Simeon raised
up and said, my salvation. We have a message of Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Sometimes I skim down through
some of the titles of sermons on sermon audio and I say, I
guess I'm just out of it because I'm not into the political stuff.
Jesus Christ was political enough. We're going to find out that
there's a whole bunch of people who want to stop the building
of that second temple just like they would stop the preaching
of the gospel if they could. Here in the book of Revelation
chapter 21 and verse 22, it says, and I saw no temple therein.
This new city, New Jerusalem, what's that? That's the church. Why? For the Lord God, Almighty
and the Lamb are the meeting place of God, the temple of it. So truly that second temple had
greater glory. Why? Because the Son of God walked
in it. He never went into the holy place
and he never went into the holy of holies. He didn't have to.
He was the Sacrifice, and he was the altar, he was the lamb.
This is him, as Simeon said, my salvation. As David said,
he is all my salvation. There's nothing else. This temple,
the second temple, had greater glory than in the days of Solomon. Because Jesus Christ walked there,
and then he said, one day when his One of his disciples, I don't
know if it was one of the 12 or someone had just attached
to him for a while, walked him around the building and said,
isn't this a beautiful place? And Jesus said, this place will
be destroyed. One day he said, destroy this
temple and in three days I'll raise it up again. And they must
have said, it took 87 years to build this temple. What are you
talking about? He spoke of the temple of his body. He raised
it up victorious over all the activities that took place on
the cross. In his death, he was buried.
He rose again the third day victorious over it. This temple is greater
than all the rest, and we don't need ornamentation. We need the
Christ of God. the Lord Jesus. We pray that
as Haggai said, he's going to come and shake the, he's going
to shiver the timbers. Oh, the worst day I ever had
in my life was when I heard the gospel and I went home and I
just said, I hate that man. He's brought some news I don't
like. Until the Lord God Almighty gave me the new birth and then
I said, oh my goodness, he could have done me no greater favor
than to point me to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world.