Would you join me this morning
in the book of Ezra? Ezra chapter 2. Ezra chapter 2. Among these 70 verses, many of
them having names and numbers of folks that left Babylon and
we're headed towards Jerusalem, I'm sure there would be a study
in itself by just looking up the definition of these names.
But we'll leave that study to another day. There are verses
in here that have caught our attention, though, that share
with us the great truths of the gospel. The gospel of a gracious
God before the foundation of the world, desiring, purposing
to have a great number of people in his host through eternity.
We find that the Bible is a history book. This is the history of
Israel. And we find that the Bible is
a book of science. And there's much to be said in
the Bible about true science. The Bible is a book of Christian
living. The Bible is a book on how to treat people. Yet we never want to forget the
main purpose of the Bible is to declare God's eternal plan
and purpose to save His elect out of every age, country, language,
and circumstance. It is a spiritual book giving
wonderful declarations of him doing this and the results
of this great salvation. Now in the middle of this passage
of scripture, well I should say towards the end of this passage
of scripture in the book of Ezra chapter 2, there is a verse that
catches our attention, and it's verse 68. Ezra chapter 2, verse
68. Please remember with me that
we have left Babylon four months earlier. We have traveled somewhat
over 800 miles, and most of that travel would have been by foot through some of the desert areas
of the world to leave Babylon and come to Jerusalem. And we
have a host of folks traveling, and a host of beasts of burden
traveling. And we come to Jerusalem. what
used to be one of the focal points of the ancient world. And this
group of folks come up there, and now we read verse 68. And some of the chief of the
fathers when they came to the house of the Lord, which is at
Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up
in his place. When they arrived at the temple
of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families
contributed toward the building of the temple of God on its former
site, is how it said in another translation. Now there seems
to be a paradox in that verse of scripture. The name of our message this
morning is the faith of God's elect. Can you imagine traveling
800 miles to go to Jerusalem and coming in there and the record
is left us by the Holy Spirit that they came to the temple
of the Lord and the temple of the Lord is in shambles. Only by faith could these folks
see the temple of the Lord there. Only by faith could they see
what the scriptures tell us. As it says there, they came to
the house of the Lord, or to the temple of the Lord, and this
temple has been utterly destroyed. In fact, they take up a contribution
there, or pass out money there, to help with the rebuilding of
that temple. And yet, in their mind's eye,
it is as if it was standing. I thought that was interesting.
And that's where we'd like to spend some time this morning.
Let's back up just a little bit, if you would, in the book of
1st Chronicles, chapter 21. 1st Chronicles, chapter 21, beginning
with verse 18, we find here that David goes to a place and offers
a sacrifice. 1st Chronicles, chapter 21, And
I want to begin reading with verse 18. First Chronicles chapter
21 verse 18. We read here, then the angel
of the Lord commanded Gad, now if you are a believer and you
lived in this day and time, this is one of those fellows you'd
want to go here. Because he knew something about God. It had been
revealed to him that God is the only savior of his people. And that there is a very dear
Request or command that God is placed upon people and that command
can only be fulfilled in one person And that's his son Jesus
Christ God has great demand and he can only have it fulfilled
in one person and God has that knowledge and About this one
person Gad to say to David and David should go up and set up
an altar unto the Lord in the threshing floor of Ornan the
Jebusite and David went up at the saying of Gad which he spake
in the name of the Lord That's not an anomaly that's a believer
Gad said it David did it And Ornan turned back and saw the
angel and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan
was at the threshing of wheat. And as David came to Ornan, Ornan
looked and saw David and went out of the threshing floor and
bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. David is
instructed by a preacher of righteousness to go to a specific place and
there offer up a sacrifice Read the rest through verse 30 at
your leisure, but let's go to the book of 2nd Chronicles chapter
3 2nd Chronicles chapter 3 In 2nd Chronicles chapter 3 we have
the time when the temple is going to be built. David had an interest
in doing it, but he has denied that. He amasses a great deal
of material for the temple, but in 2nd Chronicles chapter 3 we
read these words. Then Solomon began to build the
house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah, where the Lord
appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared
in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. So we've passed
a number of years here. David has identified the place. Solomon comes along and he's
led by Almighty God to build the temple on that special site,
Mount Moriah. Many things have happened there
through the history of Israel, and here it is at the place of
the building of the temple. Temple took about seven years
to build and it stood for about four hundred and ten years Now
would you turn with me to 2nd Chronicles chapter 36? 2nd Chronicles
chapter 36 It is beyond our ability to describe
the beauty of that temple There is no way that we can come to
an exact and Replica of that temple because some of the information
was put in the minds of God's people and what to do How to
build it and to prepare it All right four hundred and ten years
later We have seen through the history of Israel the continuous
not evolution but de evolution the spirituality of the leaders
of Israel The kings go downhill. The priests go downhill. The reason for that is that almost
all of them had no knowledge whatsoever of what the preacher
God had, and that was a spiritual knowledge of Almighty God. They're
unregenerate folks. The priests are ungenerate. The
prophets are unregenerate. and the kings are unregenerate,
and they go downhill. Every once in a while, God reveals
himself to one of the kings, or one of the priests, or one
of the prophets, and they have a revival. Well, after 410 years,
God, in his decrees and in his purpose, says, I'm sending Nebuchadnezzar,
king of Babylon, down to Jerusalem, and it is going to be put into
ruins. It is not Nebuchadnezzar's idea
to do this. This is God's purpose with Israel. Now we're going to have those
people displaced for 70 years in Babylon. We're going to have
such men as Daniel. We're going to have such men
as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego testify of the greatness of Almighty
God in Babylon. We're going to have a king Even
say that there is no God like the God of Israel But in preparation
for that we read here in 2nd Chronicles chapter 36 beginning
with verse 17 that God sent the hordes of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar
to come down and to take to sack Jerusalem and to destroy it 2nd
Chronicles chapter 36 and verse 17 Therefore he brought upon
them the king of the Chaldeans, who slew their young men with
the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion
upon the young men, or maiden, or man, or him that stooped for
age. He gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house
of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the
Lord, the treasures of the king, and of his princes, all these
he brought to Babylon, and they burnt the house of God, and break
down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof
with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. There
are chapters that deal with the destruction of Jerusalem and
the destruction of the temple, but it's summed up in this passage
of scripture. We go from the heights of the
temple under Solomon's rule to the depths of destruction, and
Jerusalem is taken apart piece by piece, and those that have
any worth at all are taken off into Babylonian captivity. Turn
with me, if you would, to the book of the Psalms, Psalm 79.
as we look at the destruction, and this, when we see the destruction
of Jerusalem and see the destruction of the temple, it really causes
us to see what it was by faith to come to that place, by the
faith of God's elect, by the faith of God given to say, we're
coming to the temple. And it's not even here. It's
by faith we can see it. In Psalm 79 and verse 1, the
scripture says, Oh God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance.
The holy temple have they defiled. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The destruction that took place
there. There was, if I remember correctly,
the siege of Jerusalem was about 30 months. And finally the people said,
it's enough. The king and his family took
off, and a bunch of the men took off, and the king got after them
and captured them all. This holy, beautiful house was
now in ruins. Would you turn with me just a
little bit further in the psalm, Psalm 102. In Psalm 102 and verse
14. This passage of scripture seems
to allude to the fact of those even going by. I can think a little bit about
this. I can place this a little bit in my own mind. When I go
down to where I grew up, I drive up old Pine Creek Canyon. Right there my grandparents had
their house. It burned down a number of years
ago. As I drive by it and see the site and see the old cherry
tree, I kind of can feel what I read in this passage, so the
heathen, excuse me, Psalm 102 and verse 14, for thy servants
take pleasure in her stones and favor in the dust thereof. Brings back the memories. I see that rubble of stones. I see the dust. It also tells
us in the book of Jeremiah. Would you turn there with me,
Jeremiah 26? Jeremiah chapter 26. Jeremiah chapter 26 and verse
18. Micah the Morazite prophesied
in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and spake to all the
people of Judah saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, Zion
shall be plowed like a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps
and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. Time and time again, as we read
through the scriptures, we find the desolation of Jerusalem and
the desolation of the temple, and yet we read there in the
book of Ezra that after 70 years of captivity, some of Judah and
Benjamin were permitted to return to Jerusalem, and I wonder what
they thought as they went along those 800 miles, what it would
be like to go home. My grandmother used to live,
one of them used to live in Grants Pass, Oregon. A number of years
after she passed away, I drove over there to 300 M Street and
it is a level lot. The house is gone. There's nothing
that looked the same. And as I was driving there, I
wondered what it will be like. Will it be the old house there?
Will there be the clothesline in the backyard? Will there be
the little garage building there? And when I arrived, it was desolate. And here we have these people
traveling that 800 miles. I can't help but think what they
were thinking as they traveled. What will it be like? We've heard
stories. People have told us. But what
will it be like when we get back to Jerusalem, and as they travel
those four months and they come up to the city, these people
come to the place where the temple had once been, and it is recorded, they saw the temple. What's it
say there in Ezra chapter 2 verse 68? Some of the chief of the fathers
when they came to the house of the Lord Now no doubt there were
some of the folks around there that said Are they crazy? What do you mean they came to
the house of the Lord and There's not one stone left upon another
one in the walls of Jerusalem and the destruction of the king's
palace and the destruction of the temple has been so complete
and all that stuff had been carried off. Much of it gets to come
back as we find the record shares with us. Zion shall be plowed
as a field and Jerusalem shall become a heap and here it is
and yet we find that by faith they're able to see the temple
even in the state that they were in. Now that just sets the tone
for what God does for his people when it comes to being able to
see things by faith. It is mentioned four times, once
in the Old Testament and three times in the New Testament. Habakkuk
brings it up in the Old Testament and says, the just shall live
by faith. Those who are justified shall
live by faith. It is brought up in the book
of Romans. It is brought up in the book
of Galatians. It is brought up in the book of Hebrews. The just
shall live by faith. And we read, if you turn with
me to the book of Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1 and there
in verse 1 it shares with us some truth about this faith that
God gives Titus chapter 1 and verse 1 What kind of faith did
they have? Where did that faith come from? And here in Titus chapter one
verse one, Paul a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ
according to the faith of God's elect. And the acknowledging
of the truth which is after godliness. Now these folks that came to
the temple that wasn't even the temple. These folks that came
to Jerusalem where it looked like a plowed field as they came
out of activity and travel those 800 miles and arrived at the
place where it used to be Those who had faith could see without
it even being built That the temple is right here, and they
prepare for the building of that temple once again and The Apostle
Paul shares with us such a truism such a wonderful scripture principle
found in Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20 I am crucified with
Christ nevertheless I live Yet not I but Christ liveth in me
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God and who loved me and gave himself for me. So these people are demonstrating
at least in type, if not in truth. That they have a faith that's
been given to them by the Lord Jesus Christ, that they are able
to see things that nobody else could see. There were no doubt
many that came back that had no idea of what these folks were
seeing when they said they came to the temple. Because this is
a pile of rock. This is a rubble pile. And they're
gonna have to do a lot of cleaning to get it started. And yet we
find that God's people all through all ages that knew anything about
God in the revealed purpose of grace, they could see by faith
because the faith that they had been given was not their faith,
but the faith of Jesus Christ that had been given to them.
And since God gives faith, Christ gives faith, it's able to see
things that nobody else could ever see. And I'm not talking
about visions. I'm talking about being able
to take God at His word and trusting Him for all our salvation. Hebrews chapter 11. Would you
turn there with me to Hebrews chapter 11? Hebrews chapter 11
and verse 1, as we look at faith, the faith
of God's elect, it is beyond description. One person put it this way, to
one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without
faith, no explanation is possible. You just can't explain it so
they'll understand it. But if God has given a person
faith and the word of God is read, they know that it is the
truth because it is God's word and God given faith to believe
that word. Here in the book of Hebrews chapter
11 verse 1, verse 1, now faith is the substance of things hoped
for and the evidence of things not seen. My goodness, here's
a pile of rock, but some people come out and say, The temple
is right here. Now in time, it was built. In
time, it became fruition. In time, it became an actual
building. but in the minds of these folks
that came there and saw that place, they could see in their
mind's eye and by the faith of God, this temple. Now this just leads us, and we'll
get over there in just a moment, but in the book of Revelation,
it says in the city Jerusalem, there is no need of a temple,
for Christ is the temple thereof. We don't need a building. We
need Christ. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
2, would you turn there with me? Hebrews chapter 12 and verse
2, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. There
was some of that given to those who had traveled that 800 miles
to come up to that place of nothingness and be able to say, I'm coming
to the temple of God. To bow down before Christ is
not before an altar. It is not before a picture. It's not before a being. It's
not before anybody. In that sense, it is bowing before
Almighty God in faith that God gives to us and realizing that
He is all my salvation and all my hope and nobody can see Him. We must be foolish. Oh, to be
foolish like that. Those folks must be foolish.
They're talking about a temple here, and all I see is rocks.
We're talking about a temple. On all they can see is nothingness.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. This faith that God gives is real faith that allows us
to go to where it looks impossible, that there is nothing here, and
to have it in our heart. I believe every word that he
has said. Faith is the sincere and hearty
assent and consent of the mind to the belief of the being and
promises of God, as especially revealed to the church in the
word of God. It is only by faith that God's
people can worship at the true temple. It's not our faith. Our faith will not get it there. It is His faith. It wasn't those
folks' faith when they came to that flat place or rubble place
or pile of rock or plowed field or whatever it looked like. I've
got many thoughts in my mind about what Jerusalem looked like
just by a few descriptions that are found in the Word of God,
but none of us would look at that as a place to go move to. Too much work to do. I want a
piece of flat ground that's easy digging for foundation." And
here they are, right there where the temple was, and they said,
we can see it. And no doubt, some of their kids
said, they've gone over the edge. Some of the cheese has slipped
off the cracker, and yet they knew in their own minds, this
is where it is. In the book of Revelation, would
you turn there with me? Revelation chapter 21, this great
description of New Jerusalem. Revelation chapter 21 and verse
9. I'm going to show you, this one
says, tell John, I'm going to show you the Lamb's bride. I'm going to show you the church
in its glory. I'm going to show you in this
book of figurative language, I'm going to show you a most
astonishing thing. Everybody throughout the Old
Testament and New Testament that was given any ability of talking
about themselves after they'd been saved, they all agree, woe
is me. I'm undone. I'm a sinner. How in the world could you ever
look at me, Lord? That's what they agreed on, that
thing. And yet as we read here in Revelation chapter 21 and
verse nine, and there came unto me one of the seven angels which
had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked
to me saying, come hither. I will show thee the bride, the
Lamb's wife. That just gets my interest right
up. Because I want to see what the
Bible says about that. The bride, the lamb's wife. And if we drop down to verses
22 and 23, there's a lot said in there, but verses 22 and 23,
and I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God Almighty and
the lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of sun,
neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did
lighten it, and the lamb is the light thereof. So it's not all
that difficult to go back to the book of Ezra and see a group
of folks come up there and say, here's the temple. Christ is
the temple. This is only a shadow, even in
its best form. The temple under Solomon's reign
that was built and spent seven years in building, or this temple
that was built, or the one that was renovated and was there at
the time of Christ, that is pales compared to the glory of the
temple of New Jerusalem, the church of the living God, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is our stone. He is our foundation. He is our richness. He is all
those things in reality that are pictured in those things,
but we find in this New Jerusalem, in the church, we don't need
a physical temple because He is the temple of it. He is our
place of worship. That's why I don't call this
a sanctuary. It's called an auditorium. Because He is our sanctuary. He is our temple. Would you turn
with me back to the book of Galatians? Galatians chapter 5. You want
to know the results of true faith? The results of the new birth?
Here's the results of the new birth. This is the card. This is the grading card. This
is the results of the new birth. What will God do for me when
he gives me the new birth? What is the, what can I look
for? I know none of this is in me
by nature. Galatians chapter five verse
22, but the fruit of the spirit Is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gossiping, oh, excuse me, that's
in the previous part. This is the fruit of the spirit.
Gentleness, goodness, faith. Meekness, temperance, against
such there is no law. This is what those folks had
when they came to Jerusalem and it's in heaps and piles and looked
like a plowed field and stones and Scattered all over when they
came up to the place of the temple they said They saw the house
of God It wasn't in this place It was
what God gave them about the Lord Jesus Christ. Going ahead
a little bit to the book of Hebrews again, chapter 11 and verse six,
we read this. There were a whole bunch of people
that had traveled all that distance, those 800 miles, and had come
across there. We found out last Sunday that
there were a bunch of those folks that couldn't prove that they
were even of Israel, and there was a whole bunch of them that
couldn't prove that they were Levites and thought they were, and Israelites
and weren't. There's a whole bunch of people
that cannot please God. Why? Look here in Hebrews chapter
11 and verse 6. For without faith, it is impossible to please him. Without faith,
God-given faith, Holy Spirit-given faith, new-birth faith, it is
impossible to please God. Now there were some of those
folks that came back from Babylon that had an idea about these
guys gathering around where the temple was and says, I can see
the temple. I see the Lord's house right now and here. In
fact, I've got some donation I want to give for the building
of it and putting it back where it belonged. And there were some
people on the outside saying, I just cannot see that at all. Who was it that pleased God? The crazy ones. Those who had faith and saw things
afar. Abraham believed God and it was
counted unto him for righteousness. He looked for a city whose builder
and maker was God. He didn't look for a campground
somewhere, he was looking for a city whose builder and maker
was God. By faith he saw Christ. And here as we read, it's without
faith it's possible to please him, for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek for him. They must believe that he is.
I shared with you a number of times, and when I was pastoring
in religion, I'd go home after the service and wonder if there
really is a God. When God saves somebody, that's
not an issue anymore. By faith, they know it. God has
revealed that to them. And as we heard read there this
morning in 1 John chapter 5, would you read with me just one
verse out of that passage, 1 John chapter 5. Brother Craig read this, but
I wanna read right here. Verse 10. First John chapter 5 and verse
10. He that hath faith, he that believeth, he that hath faith,
the Son of God, hath the witness in himself. Those folks that
came to that pile of rubble and said, we've come to the house
of the Lord. How did they know that? They
had the witness in themselves. God had established a witness
in them, in their heart, in their mind. They believed God's word
that Jeremiah said, there will be a time when this will be rebuilt. And they just trusted God. Witness
in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his son. Oh, he is almighty God. Oh, I
don't know about that. He is the savior of his people. I don't know about that. What
does that mean? I don't believe the record. He
that believeth God knoweth God. So this is the record. God gave
his son the temple in all his glory. Taken by wicked hands
and crucified and slain The temple in all his glory the true temple
in all his glory Glory that he had with the father before the
world was glory as the son of God walking among men taken by
wicked hands and crucified and then at the right time, raised
to His glory, and now sitting at the right hand of the Father. Those came, all that was destroyed,
it was there. Now, one more verse in closing. Would you go back to the book
of Ezra? Ezra chapter 3. Ezra chapter 3 And verse 12 Ezra chapter 3 and 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 foundations of this house was laid before their eyes,
wept with a loud voice, and many shouted aloud with joy. Those guys had to be 80, 90,
100 years old. They had to be carried off. They
could remember what it was like at one time. Now as they laid
the foundation, their eyes dripped, but many shouted with joy. It's
no wonder that those folks came out there and said, and some
of the chief of the fathers when they came to the house of the
Lord, They came by faith, God-given
faith. They believed God and it was
counted unto them for righteousness. They believed God and they could
see things that nobody else could see. How many times have you been
told, I just can't see that? We know exactly, that's the truth.
I just can't see that. By God's grace, I pray that you
can see Him. The true temple that's been raised
up in this temple's stead is only a picture and a type and
a shadow that you might see the true temple, the true place of
worship, the Lord Jesus Christ.