In the second chapter of the
book of Haggai, there's an unmistakable prophecy of the coming Messiah,
the Lord Jesus Christ, in which he is referred to as the desire
of all nations. And in keeping with that, the
title of this morning's message is in the form of a question
I would like everyone to consider. That is, is Christ your desire? Is this the one, the Lord Jesus
Christ, as he's referred to in Haggai 2, verse 7, as the desire
of all nations, truly your desire? Of the 12 minor prophets, there
were only three who preached or prophesied after the Jews
had returned from the Babylonian captivity, Haggai being one of
those three. It's actually believed that he
was born while the Jews were in captivity. So I want to share
a very brief little history here that's relevant to Haggai's prophecy. That is, first, the Babylonian
captivity lasted 70 years. About 19 years into that period,
in other words, 19 years after they had been taken captive,
is when the temple, which was built under Solomon's leadership,
was destroyed. And interestingly then, Haggai's
prophecy was delivered about 19 years after they had returned
from captivity. So by that, do the math, we see
that it's been about 70 years since that first temple, Solomon's
temple, had been destroyed. And by the time of Haggai's prophecy
now, the rebuilding of the temple was already underway. His prophecy
can be summarized by both one, a reproof of the Jews for their
negligence and their delay in having stopped work or halted
some on the rebuilding of the temple, as well as an encouragement
and a word of comfort to them in resuming that work. And this
encouragement, we'll see, comes from God's assurance that in
spite of the physical contrasts that could be made in comparing
the magnificence of Solomon's Temple to the smaller one now
being rebuilt, which unlike Solomon's Temple, it would not be overlaid
with gold. We wouldn't have all the treasures
of David. It wouldn't have many of the
items, including the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat
that were housed in Solomon's Temple. But in spite of those
physical contrasts, God assures them that actually this rebuilt
temple would be more glorious. And so we're going to delve into
how that could be this morning. We'll focus mostly on verses
6 through 9, but to appreciate the fuller context, let's begin
back in verse 1 of Haggai 2. In the seventh month and the
one and twentieth day of the month, And 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 the son of Josedec
the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, Who is
left among you that saw this house in her first glory? He's referring to Solomon's temple.
And how do ye see it now, this temple being rebuilt? Is it not
in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? See, it's apparent
that there were those still alive who had seen Solomon's temple
in all its glory. And here, the all-knowing God
through the prophet exposes their thoughts, the comparisons that
they were making between the splendor of Solomon's temple
and the more modest one they were currently constructing.
and seeing it as nothing by comparison with the first, they had become
disheartened and discouraged in their work. Ezra wrote about
that in Ezra 3.12 saying, but many of the priests and Levites
and chief of the fathers who were ancient men, the older ones,
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. Apparently the older ones wept
while the younger ones were excited. But we learned from Haggai that
even the younger ones perhaps had become discouraged or else
the influence of the older ones had prevailed upon them because
these comparisons, it's clear from Haggai, had hampered their
progress on rebuilding the temple. So God, through his prophet,
continuing in verse four of Haggai 2, says, yet now be strong, those
who are robable, saith the Lord. And be strong, O Joshua, son
of Josedec, 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 covenanted
with you when ye came out of Egypt. So my spirit remaineth
among you, fear ye not. Here he commands them to be strong,
not in their own abilities, but just as we're told in Ephesians
6, 10, to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.
The real beauty of the temple, listen, even Solomon's temple,
was not in the size and in the materials of the building. but
in the presence of the Lord who had covenanted with them." He
covenanted with them, beginning with their father Abraham. But
it was made even clearer when they came out of Egypt as he
assured them he would be with them. You can read of that in
Exodus on your own. He assured them he would be with
them, not if they would do this or if they would do the other,
but solely because Excuse me, got a little frog in my throat
here. Solely because he had so purposed. He had determined and
he had promised. You know, that old covenant given
to Moses with the nation Israel was a conditional covenant by
which the obedience or the disobedience of that nation would affect their
blessings, their temporal circumstances. But not so with this covenant
of grace. He's reminding them of his unconditional
promises, just as found in that everlasting covenant of grace. Grace, that's what grace means.
It means the recipient, those blessed, met no conditions. It was all unmerited favor. In
that everlasting covenant of grace where the triune God purposed,
agreed, covenanted that all of salvation would be conditioned,
not on our doing, but solely conditioned on the doing and
dying of the word of the covenant. And I say that word with a capital
W, as in the word that John said was in the beginning. that was
with God and was God, the word that was made flesh and dwelt
or tabernacled among us, the Lord Jesus Christ, who would
come and dwell, the word of the covenant. God see through Haggai
is telling them, go back to work, but not in order to be blessed
by that which you can construct, the work of your hands, but because
you are blessed, he's telling them that in that I am with you. Here we have the Lord, you notice
all capital letters. The triune God, Jehovah God who
saves. We have God the Father speaking
through his prophet. We have the word covenanted,
God the Son. And we have the presence of God
the Holy Spirit all set forth here as the source of their strength. And then now to our primary text
beginning in verse six, we read, for thus saith the Lord of hosts.
Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens
and the earth and the sea and the dry land, and 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." Now,
this is a prophecy of the coming Christ, and I'll show you that
from the commentary we have on this very passage in the New
Testament in just a bit. But hear the invincible Lord
of hosts. He declares that in a little
while, he'll shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry
land. But it would be 500 years later before this would be fulfilled
by Christ, the desire of all nations, who would come to earth
and take into union with his deity, a sinless humanity, to
save his people from among all nations. But 500 years is just
a little while with an eternal, timeless God, the one we're told
a thousand years or as one day. And a little while using that
phrase there may be an allusion to the fact that Israel, having
now returned to their homeland from their captivity, they were
in the final stage of their history before the abolishment of the
Old Covenant by way of Christ's arrival and fulfillment of that
law and all that had been pictured therein. This shaking that's
spoken of here refers to the setting up of Christ's kingdom
in the world by his incarnation and his subsequent accomplishment
on the cross in establishing righteousness. This is a kingdom
that rules and reigns through righteousness. That's the perfect satisfaction
to God's law and justice that Christ rendered. The very merit
which God imputed, see, to those whose sins were imputed or charged
to Christ. This is the righteousness by
which those who are saved, by which God justifies them. That
means declares them to be not guilty, but righteous in his
sight. And God's people, for whom Christ
lived and died, were those chosen from among every kindred, tongue,
tribe, and nation, from among all the nations of the earth.
The good news of the gospel, see, was no longer constrained
to the chosen nation of Israel. That nation that was chosen to
be temporally blessed under the terms of that temporary Old Covenant
mosaic economy. We know that Haggai is prophesying
of Christ from the context of Hebrews 12, where he is quoted. There we read, beginning in verse
24, it says, and to Jesus. And I started there because I
want to be sure you saw we're talking about Jesus, the mediator
of the new covenant. and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Abel's blood offering
merely testifying and typifying the blood of the Lamb of God,
Christ's future offering of himself. So he says in verse 25, see that
ye refuse not him that speaketh, and that is him that speaks through
what he accomplished. by his shed blood, for if they
escape not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall
not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.
And quoting from Haggai, saying, whose voice then shook the earth,
but now he hath promised, saying, yet once more I shake not the
earth only, but also heaven. In this word, yet once more signify
the removing of those things that are shaken as of things
that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we
may serve God acceptably and reverently, and excuse me, with
reverence and godly fear. This is speaking of the abolishment
of the old covenant. And in the book of Hebrews, we're
told the blood of those animals sacrificed in the temple, they
could never save. They had merely typified the
one whose blood alone would truly atone. The one who by one offering
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, set apart in
Christ from all eternity. the one whose blood alone would
truly see, atoned for sins by a full and final payment of all
that that law required and all that its ceremonies pictured.
So that which could be shaken, in other words, the types, such
as those man-made temples that were destroyed, all of that is
removed to bring in that which can never be shaken. that which
is everlasting, a kingdom that reigns through His perfect everlasting
righteousness. And as such it cannot be moved.
Well, time won't permit me to turn to all the scriptures where
we have instances of God having shaken the earth. But it is interesting. Before many of the momentous
events is recorded in the Bible, we have that record. You'll recall
that he shook the earth when he brought the Jews out of Egypt.
He shook the heavens and earth at Mount Sinai when he gave Moses
the law. He did that, you'll recall, with
thunder and lightning and earthquakes were told. It's believed he shook
the sea and dry land to make the lanes through the Red Sea
and to cause streams to flow out of the rock. Haggai's prophecy
here of the coming of the desire of all nations and the shaking
associated with that reminds us of the wondrous things that
took place in the heavens and the earth and sea at the birth
of Christ. and at the culmination of his work, his obedience unto
death on the cross. You recall at his birth, a new
star appeared in the heavens, which guided the wise men from
the east. And then we have the record of
the multitude of heavenly hosts descending from the heavens,
singing, glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace,
goodwill toward men. Then it is death. We're told
the heavens were darkened and there was an earthquake. And
lastly, it's also prophesied that when he comes back at his
second coming, there'll be a shaking of the earth. All this is in
keeping with the momentous occasions and with the victory and the
certain glory that accompanies the desire of all nations, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Clearly you can see that the
desire of all nations refers to the Savior who came some 2,000
years ago and did away with the old to establish the new covenant.
Now the new covenant, that's just the establishment in time
of the terms of the everlasting covenant of grace. See, that
covenant which cannot be shaken because it has salvation totally
conditioned on God, God himself, on the almighty, eternal Lord
of hosts, the God-man who would come. In Hebrews 10.4, we're
reminded that by the ceremonies of the old covenant which took
place in the temple, that by the shedding, of the blood of
bulls and goats." It was never possible to take away sins. Then
in the following verses 5 and 6, Christ declares that the Father
had prepared Him a body because God's holy justice could not
be satisfied by the burnt offerings and sacrifices of the temple.
That's repeated in verse 8. And picking up at verse 9 of
Hebrews 10, we read, "...then said He," that's Christ, come
to do thy will, O God, he taketh away the first, that he may establish
the second." As we read in the Hebrews 12 passage that cited
Haggai's words, he removed that which could be shaken, that those
things that cannot be shaken would remain, a kingdom that
cannot be moved. Now back in Haggai 2 verse 7,
notice he refers to this desire of all nations as this house
which God will fill with glory. This is speaking of Christ as
the temple himself wherein and by whom we behold the glory of
God. Continuing then in verse 8 of
Haggai 2, God adds, the silver is mine and the gold is mine,
saith the Lord of hosts. 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." Remember, they were comparing
the gold and the treasures of Solomon's temple with the latter
house, the one they were rebuilding. And God reminds them here that
everything belongs to Him. If they filled His temple with
silver and gold, they would only be giving to God what's already
His. I'm reminded of that as we look
at our modest building sometime, and I'll touch on that a bit
more because we see glory in this very gospel message that
sets forth how God is glorified in Christ. We read in 1 Corinthians
10, 26, for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
So all, that means all that we have belongs to him. We're to
be good stewards of it, and I suspect if we kept in mind that it all
belongs to him, that we would be better stewards of it. We're
to serve him with it, but it's all his. We merely just have
use of our possessions for a time. We're not going to take any of
them with us, are we? So God doesn't need that which
is already his. Not the silver and gold and even
the splendor of Solomon's temple for him to be honored because
his honor and his glory is all wrapped up in the desire of all
nations who would come and through whom God would and has given
peace. Peace, gave peace. That's reconciliation
between a holy and just God and a sinner. In later years, the
rebuilt temple was, we're told, enriched somewhat by Herod, but
it never compared to the appearance of the outward glory of Solomon's
temple. But unlike Solomon's temple,
Christ would come while this temple still stood. Christ would
actually grace this latter house with his very physical presence. Think of that, the presence of
God himself, the God-man, Emmanuel meaning God with us. You'll recall
that eight days after his birth, Mary and Joseph took him to Jerusalem
to be circumcised in accordance with the old covenant law and
he was presented in this very temple. Later he would grace
its presence when he was 12 years old. We're told as he conversed
with the doctors there that they were astonished with his insight,
with his understanding and answers to their questions. He later
preached and he worked miracles in this very temple. And it was
there he drove out the money changers, those that were found
buying and selling. And in Acts 5, we're told that
in this temple, Jesus Christ was preached daily, and you know
where his gospel is preached, where the gospel that sets forth
the terms of this unconditional, everlasting covenant of grace,
wherein all of salvation is conditioned on Christ alone, there is a great
glory. Susan and I were privileged years
ago to go to Europe and see some of the most magnificent pieces
of architecture, these giant old cathedrals. and the wealth
that went into the building of those, and it's just amazing,
but our little modest building here has more glory, for there
was no gospel there. So we see it was necessary that
Christ would come in fulfillment of this prophecy while this latter
house remained standing. You know, present-day Jews who
still look for a Messiah to come, they should consider from Haggai
that the Messiah had to come while this temple still stood.
But that temple has long since been destroyed. The Messiah came
while it stood. You know, while on earth Christ
said this of himself in Luke 11. He said, Behold, a greater
than Solomon is here. He is the glory of this latter
house, and there's also a greater glory in the hearts of those
He indwells by His Spirit as living temples. Listen, that's
far more glorious than Solomon's temple because it simply pictured
and foreshadowed Christ and His redemptive glory, that very glory
that is made known in the hearts of all those who are born of
the Spirit. And then God, through Haggai,
says there, in this place will I give peace. Now, during the
time that this rebuilt temple stood, the Jews had anything
but peace. So we know that this speaks of
the Prince of Peace. And of the peace that He, Christ,
would make between God and the everlasting objects of His love,
mercy, and grace. by his doing and dying on the
cross in their place as their substitute. And I'll say a bit
more about this piece in a few minutes, but for now, I want
you to think with me about Haggai's description of Christ as the
desire of all nations. We know from Romans 3.11 and
other passages that in the natural, spiritually dead state in which
we all begin our lives here on earth, God declares there's none
that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. So none seek not the true and
living God by nature, yet God through Haggai calls the Lord
Jesus Christ the desire of all nations. So what are we to make
of that description of our Lord? Well, I think there are two ways
in which we might understand this, which both would be consistent
with the whole of scripture. First, reflect on the transition,
the significant transition that was made with Christ's coming
and his ending of the Old Covenant by his fulfillment of it. And
this shook things up. We've seen this extensively in
our Roman study. There was a huge transition made
in the early churches. Christ commanded his disciples
now to go out into all the world to preach the gospel. The gospel
being spread to the Gentiles, that's the non-Jewish nations,
for the first time, no longer constricted to the nation Israel
as it was under the Old Covenant. You know, often in the New Testament,
that word world is used to emphasize that the salvation of sinners
is not restricted to the nation Israel, but to God's chosen people
from among all nations. We know that's so. There's little
argument that multitudes will perish. Not all are saved, so
the world can't mean every individual in the world in those particular
contexts. Under the old covenancy, only
the Jews had the temple and the truth of salvation in the promised
Messiah as it was typified by every aspect of their temple
worship. The altar, Christ is that altar. The priest, Christ is the priest,
offering the sacrifice of himself. But the Bible declares that Christ
came to save sinners from among all the nations of the earth.
The Bible calls those he comes to save the Israel of God. Speaking of those chosen from
all eternity to be blessed for all eternity in Christ and their
substitute and savior, God's elect, his chosen people from
among all nations in each of their respective lifetimes are
given his blood-bought gift of faith, whereby Christ is revealed
to them, so as to become all their hope and their desire. Him whom to know is life eternal. Another way we might consider
this description of Christ as the desire of all nations is
by thinking about what it means to desire something. We all have
desires. We desire our children and those
of us who've gotten a little older, later our grandchildren,
that they grow up and be healthy and get a good education. We
want them to be successful in every endeavor, be happily married
perhaps. Those of us that believe God's
gospel, we have a strong desire that our friends and our loved
ones come to belief of the gospel because we know that's the evidence
of their being blessed by God for all eternity in Christ. But most of us desire good health
and wealth and happiness and contentment for ourselves and
the others that we care about. The list kind of goes on and
on, doesn't it? We desire what we want, sometimes selfishly,
often selfishly, or what we feel a sense or a need for. But our
desires are not always fulfilled, are they? Far from it. We may
sense a need or a want for something, but we don't know how, or maybe
we don't have the means to make it happen. We might give it our
very best, but even at that, desires often remain unfulfilled. So much is completely really
out of our control, isn't it? And so we bow to God's sovereignty,
his purpose and plan in all things. Well, consider Christ as the
desire of all nations in this sense. It's not that all desire
him, but rather that he is the desire in that he alone can fulfill
things desired by every human heart. That is, all desire what
Christ alone can provide, and yet far from all know the Christ
who has so provided so as to desire him. I'll give you a couple
examples. First, consider immortality. If you know or believe that you
can live forever and ever in a wonderful, blissful state,
you want immortality, don't you? Secondly, consider the universal
desire to be relieved of any consequences for our sins or
shortcomings. See, everyone, I think, that's
honest with themselves, they know, we know we're far from
perfect. It doesn't take the spirit of
God to tell us that, but it does take the spirit of God to tell
us how terribly short we fall. that that misdiagnosis of our
sin problem is exposed, see, by the remedy that by nature
we mistakenly presume will take care of our sin problem, usually
something we could do, the sinner, in ignorance of the perfect righteousness
by which God judges. But there is a common denominator,
I believe, among all, and that is that there's a recognition
that something has to be done to appease the just wrath that
would be due to our shortcomings, however we might see them. We
all want to be delivered from the guilt and consequences of
sin. And when I, you know, I think of that, I'm always reminded
of those old black and white movies where you'd have a primitive
tribe in the jungle, maybe around a totem pole or burning someone
at the stake, often offering some sort of sacrifice, maybe
to a rain god or whatever, but to appease their concept of deity. All naturally desire that appeasement
be made for the shortcomings, but listen, only Jesus Christ
can and has appeased the wrath of God for his dear children
by his propitiatory sacrifice. Propitiation, that means a justice
satisfying, sin bearing sacrifice. You know, John told his fellow
Jews, he says, Christ is our propitiation. He's the propitiation
for our sins. That means God's justice was
appeased by his sin offering for them. He says, and not ours
only, but for the whole world. The whole world there can't be
everybody because God's not satisfied. The abundance of scripture that
says multitudes, the masses that will perish, tell us otherwise. So that's in keeping with the
desire of all nations, is it not? From among all nations in
that sense. Thirdly, consider how everyone
wants to know with assurance that their final state will be
one of peace between them and their God. We truly desire assurance. We would like a certainty as
it pertains to our eternal state. We want naturally what can't
be shaken. You know, often I've said this
before and I know you've heard this as well. When someone passes
away, we may hear someone remark, well, at least he or she made
their peace with God. Many desire peace and they may
gain a false assurance of peace based upon that which they've
done, some decision or response they've made, something whereby
they presume to have made their peace. But only God can, and
only God has made peace or reconciliation through the peace he gave to
the world, as Haggai put it, the Lord Jesus Christ. As we
read in 2 Corinthians 5, beginning in verse 18, and all things are
of God. who hath reconciled us to himself,
made peace by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation. That's what our ministry is about,
is letting people know how peace was made between God and his
people. To wit, namely, that God was
in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them. Now we know that can't be everyone
in the world. No, it's from among, his sheep from among all nations.
Not charging them with their sins, for he had charged them
to their substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation. That's the gospel ministry. So
only Christ can fulfill the world's need for salvation. And his greater
glory is not going to be eclipsed, and it's not going to be shared
with any other. In Acts 4.12, it says of Christ, neither is
there salvation in any other, for there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Now
I know this isn't politically correct, but you hear this in
our day. That means there's no salvation
in this popular pretender called Allah. And it means, in spite
of how often we may hear it, there really are not many different
paths to heaven's destination that can be taken from among
the smorgasbord of the different religions of the world. And listen,
there's no salvation in the, quote, Jesus that most profess
to believe on in our day. Most think of that. Most portray
him as if he were a wonderful, sinless example. but who died
for everyone without exception. And so, knowing that many perish,
that means he must have merely made salvation possible. Well,
that's not a Savior. That popular doctrine declares
that this imagined Jesus failed. fail to establish peace between
God and any sinner unless and until that sinner chooses to
do something to make a real difference in their own salvation by his
or her decision, their response, you name it. But who gets the
glory in that sort of concept of salvation? Imagine as I did, as many of
you once did, that he died for all, including those multitudes
that perish, which would make him a failure, a failure at his
stated mission. The Bible is clear that Jesus
Christ came into the world to save his sinners. He came to
save his people, we're told, those for whom he lived and died
from their sins. But that doctrine would suggest
that no reconciliation was actually made for anyone. By his doing
and dying, that would say God really wasn't in Christ reconciling
the world to himself as we just read. That heresy dares to suggest
that his blood payment failed to purchase the souls of many
of the ones for whom he died. And yet the scripture is clear
that he purchased his church. That portrays him not as a redeemer
who bought his people, but one whose blood, precious blood they'll
say, but not so precious because it was insufficient, supposedly,
to fully remit or pay for their sins. Solomon's temple was more glorious
than that. Because while it was only a type
of what was to come, at least it represented and typified an
effectual, a true, a vicarious redemption through a substitute,
the shed blood of the Lamb of God. But sadly, most of modern-day
so-called Christianity denies that. Jesus said of himself in
John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man
cometh unto the Father but by me. So the desire for salvation
will only be fulfilled in Christ and it's by him alone. He is
the singular way, truth, and life. That means it's not Christ
plus something you or I can do to seal the deal. He really meant
it when he hung on that cross and said, it is finished. He finished the work and God
is not going to share his glory with any other. And that's where
his glory lies. And that means he's not going
to share it with me and you, the sinner. So I ask all who
hear this, is Christ your desire? In other words, is he and he
alone truly your savior? In Haggai 2, the coming of the
desire of all nations is prophesied in association with these things.
First, an unconditional covenant. Secondly, a shaking that takes
place. Thirdly, an association with
a greater glory than Solomon's temple. And fourthly, of a peace
being given. So I ask first, have you embraced
the everlasting covenant of grace? If He is truly your desire, you
will agree and enter into the terms of that everlasting covenant
in which no part of your salvation is conditioned on anything that
proceeds from you, but rather knowing that Jesus Christ, the
word of the covenant, fully met every condition or requirement
for your salvation. Now that's a sure and certain
future. If your hope is in Him, Him who cannot fail, and it's
in him alone. It's based upon his imputed righteousness
alone, the merit of his doing and dying, being credited to
the accounts of all who are saved just as their sins were imputed
or charged to him so that he could pay the penalty due unto
them. We talk about that great passage of 2 Corinthians 5, 21
so often, where we see that wondrous exchange. He died for sins he
had no part in producing, that those for whom he died might
have a righteousness they had no part in producing. Now, is
that Christ all your desire? Secondly, has your heart been
shaken? Just as there was a shaking at Christ's coming and again
at His death and His finished accomplishment of salvation for
His people, there will be another shaking when He comes again. But likewise, there's a shaking
that takes place in the heart of each sinner when Christ comes
in His saving power. Has your world been shaken, turned
upside down, so to speak? Well, that's what happens when
he brings a sinner to believe his gospel so as to repent of
what the wise King Solomon said in Proverbs 16 and Proverbs 14
as well, of a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof
are the ways of death. Well, has your heart been shaken
such that you've repented of the way that seemed right to
you by nature? of ever having imagined that
God could save you based on anything that you presume to add to the
mix. He upsets our apple cart as we
discover we truly are at His mercy and cannot save ourselves. But in so doing, He gives us
a peace that passes all understanding as we see the certainty of salvation
in Christ the Savior. You know, in fact, we don't really
understand our desperate need for His mercy and grace until
we see what it took in Christ. So the remedies there before
us as we're convinced of sin and righteousness and judgment.
Well, has your heart been so shaken? Thirdly, has God been
glorified in your heart? Just as that rebuilt temple had
a greater glory in that Christ came and he graced its presence
while it stood, likewise his greatest glory is seen in the
peace that he's made for those he saves. And in 2 Corinthians
4.6, true believers are told that for God, who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, the mighty creator who said,
let there be light, and there was light. He hath shined in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 3.16, Paul wrote
to believers, Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Now, what glory? God's
Spirit is with His people. And His Spirit gives them the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face, in the person and
work of Christ. And only there do we see God's
greatest glory, His redemptive glory. His glory is the revelation
of what he's like, that we might worship him as he is. So we see
him as almighty and powerful. We see him as faithful when the
sun comes up every day. But only in Christ do we see
how God can be true to himself as a holy and a just God and
still save a sinner. That's his glory. That's his
redemptive glory. We behold the glory of the only
begotten, full of grace and truth, as John wrote. A glory which
those man-made temples merely foreshadowed. Well, has God so
shined in your heart? And lastly, is Christ your peace?
Well, as Haggai prophesied of that latter house, he said, in
this place will I give peace. Well, believers are said to be
the temple or dwelling place of God, the Holy Spirit, as we
just read. Do you have that peace and certain
assurance that comes from knowing that all your hope and desire
for salvation has been fully accomplished by one who cannot
fail, who did not fail? God Himself, the God-Man Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ. So if you seriously consider
this question, is Christ your desire, you might naturally think,
as I once did, wait a minute. If what you're saying is true,
and believe me, it is, believe, see in God's word that it is.
And when you do, you might imagine, as I did, that something like
this, well, that means there's nothing I can do. I'm up the
creek here. I can't save myself. I'm truly
at His mercy. For years I thanked Him for His
mercy and His grace, but I didn't know I really had to have it.
That my decision or response actually does nothing, nothing
I could do to determine my salvation. So if salvation is totally conditioned
on Christ and his doing and his dying alone, how can I know if
I'm one of those for whom he lived and died and arose again? Well, to help us with that, let's
consider King David and his checkered past. Remember how David, he
desired another man's wife, so he had her husband murdered to
take him out of the way so he could have Bathsheba as his own.
David, he was an adulterer, a murderer, And yet God said of him that
he was a man after his own heart. How could such a sinner be described
that way? Well, it was because as one of
the objects of God's everlasting love, mercy, and grace, God had
chosen him from before the foundation of the world, we're told in Ephesians
1, as he does his sheep. Chosen him in Christ who would
in time come and die in his place so that David, the sinner, could
stand before God holy, unblameable, having the very
righteousness of Christ imputed or credited to his account. Many
years after David had lived and died, Christ, by his substitutionary
death, purchased for David the gift of faith, which David had
received during his lifetime. God shined into David's heart
the light and the knowledge of the glory of God, his glory in
the face of Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah. So David saw
how God could be just and still save an otherwise ungodly sinner
such as himself. So how did King David know, though,
that he was a beneficiary of that everlasting covenant? Well,
as he neared the end of his life, he told us. in 2 Samuel 23 saying
this, although my house be not so with God. Now that first phrase,
some believe that David is referring to his family. not being so with
them, and that may very well be. I tend to think he's referring
to the house of David, as in his earthly kingdom in the context,
as if to say, now, my kingdom is certainly not as I'm about
to describe, although my house be not so. It's not everlasting. It's not ordered in all things,
and sure. And he says, yet he, God, hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. ordered in all things, and sure,
sure, a covenant that would result in David having immortality,
and sure, certain, assurance, and peace. See, fulfilling those
natural, universal desires for David, and how did he know this? It says, for, because this is
all my salvation and all my desire. although he make it not to grow."
Again, some think that last phrase is referring to not growing within
his own family, which was true, and that may be the case. I think
here he's still referring to the difference in the kingdoms. He's saying the Christ child
has not yet sprouted. It hasn't taken place. The kingdom has not been ushered
in yet. Although he make it not to grow,
it's already all my salvation and all my desire. The desire
of all nations had not yet come then, but by the grace of the
timeless, eternal God, David had received the gift of faith
that Christ procured for him. By his certain to happen, God
purposed future death on the cross. Thereby, see, David knew
he was a party to that everlasting covenant because his entire salvation
and all his desire, his entire hope was in the one who would
fulfill that covenant agreement by coming to save his people
from their sins. We're assured of the same as
we read in the Gospel of John where Christ said he would die
for his sheep. He said, I give my life for the
sheep. He told others, you won't come to me because you're not
my sheep. So obviously he didn't die for
it all, did he? But he also said this in John 6, 37. He said that
all his sheep, without fail, shall come to him. and he would
in no wise cast them out. See, his sheep, that's God's
elect from among all nations. In each generation, they will
all come to conclude at some point in the day of God's appointed
power. They will conclude with David
of old that Christ is all their salvation, that Christ is all
their desire. Well, have you so concluded?
Is Christ your desire? I pray so.