Seeking for the help of the Lord, I direct your prayer for attention to the Prophet Haggai. Haggai chapter 2 verse 7. 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. Specifically, the words and the desire of all nations shall come.

The Jews were rebuilding the temple after their time 70 years in Babylon. They had been discouraged because of those that opposed them and very quickly ceased from the work and instead concentrated on building their own houses. God's purpose in sending Haggai and sending Zechariah and the prophets was to encourage them in their building.

In the context here, we see that the second temple outwardly was nowhere near as big or beautiful as the first one. We read that those, when the foundation was laid, those that viewed it, there was a mixture of joy and also weeping. Those joying for it to be laid, and those weeping because it was not as big, grand as the other. But the message that Hagar I had to bring here was that the glory of this second house was to be greater. And the reason why it was to be greater was because the Lord Jesus Christ should come to that house.

And we read in Luke chapter two of the first time when he was brought into the temple and for to do according to the law. and the blessing that Simeon blessed the parents with, and also Anna, speaking of him to all them that look for redemption in Jerusalem. And so this is a passage that is an encouragement. It was an encouragement, but it still is. and it is for the people of God.

It's interesting, the language that is used even in our text, because we read, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come. And we might say, well, at the time of this prophecy, Was really the desire of all nations after the Lord Jesus, after the promised Messiah? Or is this looking to absolute gospel days? Because when we go further on with they're speaking, or even beforehand, where the Lord says He is to shake, shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land, shake all nations. This surely is pointing to the effect of the Gospel.

The Apostle Paul was accused at one time that these have come that have turned the world upside down. and truly the gospel going into every nation, it really has had a profound effect upon the nations of the world. And so this not only is speaking of those looking forward to Christ, but also really setting forth that in these gospel days, there shall be those amongst all nations that are desiring Christ. They are looking for Him, and they can be then encompassed in this, that the desire of all nations, that we are numbered amongst those that desire the Lord Jesus Christ.

If we were to think of the parallel, perhaps, of this prophecy, This is looking at the temple and looking at it that there's no beauty, it's not as big, it's not as grand as what the former one was. And we think then of what has been foretold and set forth of the Lord. how that he shall grow up before him, this is Isaiah 53 verse 2, as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, he hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. No beauty that we should, the natural man, does not desire the Lord, does not seek after the Lord. And so you have here the time with the temple, insignificant as well, not as big. Then we have the prophecies from Isaiah. And then we think of when our Lord was upon earth. They despised him. They said that he was a carpenter's son. despised and rejected of men. And yet there is, according to this word, according to the experience of God's people, the Lord being the desire of all nations. He shall come and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.

I want to look, with the Lord's help, at this word. Firstly, the desire of all nations as being pointing to our Lord Jesus Christ. In one way, it can be one of his titles, one of his names, the desire of all nations. And then secondly, these words shall come. And then thirdly, the mark. the mark of God's people, they're brought by God's grace to desire Him. There's many tokens of grace in the Word of God, and this is one of them. And really it comes down to the very first beginnings of a work of grace in desires.

but firstly the desire of all nations, our Lord Jesus Christ. Really from beginning to end of the scriptures of truth is set forth the coming of the seed of the woman and what his work should be, the effect of what he should accomplish, and through many different types, many shadows, he is set forth enough so that those Old Testament saints, they could believe and die resting on what he would do, and they would look for his coming. I love Hebrews 11 in that, these all, they died in faith, not having received the promises that seen them afar off and were persuaded of them. That was their looking, that was their desire, and it was the Lord Jesus Christ.

We can see with the comparing of the old with the new. Now these prophecies were fulfilled in our Lord's coming. We think of our Lord coming and driving out the buyers and the sellers from the temple. My house is called the house of prayer, yet made it a den of thieves. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. The Lord fulfilling those prophecies. The Lord fulfilling the prophecies that he should be born in Bethlehem, that he shall be called a Nazarene, and that those in Galilee had seen a great light. We think of the prophecies that pointed not just to his birth, but to his life, and especially to his death.

But what a beautiful picture that he should be the desire of all nations. The prophecies also pointed to the Gentiles, all other nations, that shall be brought to believe in that beautiful Psalm 107. that the Lord shall gather them from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Many such prophecies the Jews must have felt were strange, especially through Isaiah pointing to not just them, but all nations. When the Lord had said, you only have I known of all nations on the earth. The children of Israel were a typical people They're told that they were the church, a church in the wilderness. They drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.

One of the most beautiful things I've found and experienced is to read in the Word of God, and you come across the Lord Jesus Christ, sometimes where you did not expect to see him, whether a title, whether a pre-incarnation appearance is like unto Jacob, to Gideon, to Manoah and his wife, or to those times when you see a name or a title like this, the desire of all nations, when you see his name set forth as the branch, or the Lord our righteousness, and you see these titles and when the Spirit shines upon it, this is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the promised Messiah. This is He that should come. This is the hope of poor sinners. How precious that our Lord should be made like His brethren, that He should be a near kinsman that he should have the right to redeem.

There's another thing that I feel very precious is that God has allowed or put in a provision for such a thing as redemption. We don't have it in this land. If one was condemned to death, there is no right for another to pay a sum to redeem them, to save them. But in the plan of redemption, the plan of salvation, there was that provision and a provision for a substitute.

But it had to be a substitute that was spotless, that was pure, that wasn't sinful itself, that was a near kinsman. that was as close as possible to the one that was under condemnation. And the Lord Jesus Christ fulfills that. The eternal God and man in one person, the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Great is the mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. We cannot comprehend a God that fills everything, that has made the heavens and the stars, all the galaxies, that has no beginning nor an end. And yet he truly was made flesh and dwelt among us. And Solomon says, Will God in very deed dwell upon the earth? That was when the first temple was dedicated.

And it's a precious thing if we can look upon the Lord Jesus and not like the Jews that when he claimed to be God, claimed that God was his father, they knew what he meant. They sought to kill him. but instead be a wonder, a precious thing, a marvellous thing, because he was made flesh to redeem and to save.

Almighty power of God on its own could not achieve salvation, could not save sinners. But in every act that brings him to be a near kinsman, brings him to be in a position to be able to save, gives such assurance to poor sinners. This is God's plan. This is God's man, God's provision for sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is he that set forth right through the scriptures and in the revelation, it is a revelation of Jesus Christ. And so this title, Desire of all nations really is realized when people from every nation, kindred, and tongue are brought by God's grace to desire Him.

Well, our text says that the desire of all nations shall come. And I want to then look at four ways, and of course we've touched on the first, where the Lord shall come. Because the first, of course, is that in our day, he has come. He has come in person to this world.

So again, this word, it's a precious thing when you can come to prophecies And you realise this, that is spoken of here as in the future, is now for us in the past. And he's got the seal of God bringing about and accomplishing what he said that he would do.

And I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. No doubt many saw Mary come in with the babe, they didn't see the glory Simeon did. And Anna did. We get the idea, well, if the house is filled with glory, it must be like the Mount of Transfiguration. But that is not so. The glory is seen in the eyes of the people of God.

The Lord said to those of his disciples at one time, blessed are your eyes for what they see, and your ears for what they hear. the multitude they were hearing, but not in a saving way, not in a way that really touched their souls. Never man spake as this man spake.

To the first time that he came, it has been fulfilled in his coming in person. But then there's his coming by way of grace. He shall come in grace. In these gospel days, the Lord will come to his people. And there is where he comes, that desire for him, that wanting him, a seeking him, a desire that, like the Greeks, says we would see Jesus. The promises of they that seek that they shall find. And the marvel and the wonder of a difference between those that see the Lord as a root out of dry ground and those that see a beauty in him, an attractiveness and a drawn to him.

Our Lord said that, no man cometh unto me except the Father which sent me draw him. And that drawing is evidenced by desire, strong feelings of want and of attraction and of need for that person. Makes us then ask that question, doesn't it? Do we desire the Lord Jesus Christ? Do we desire Him to be shown to us by the Holy Spirit? He shall receive of mine and show it unto you. Do we desire to hear his words? Never men spake like this man. My sheep, they hear my voice. They follow me. Do we desire to know him whom to know his life eternal? Do you believe in God? Our Lord said, believe also in me.

The mark of grace that is spoken of here is a desire after the Lord Jesus Christ. The desire of the righteous that shall be granted. But then we have not only in the call by grace, but also right through the pathway of the people of God. The Lord said to his disciples, I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice. No man taketh that from you. And so he gives that promise that he will visit again. And this is something that accompanies us as a people of God right through our lives.

The desire of all nations It's a blessed thing where though we do not have the felt sense of his presence and his blessing in our souls, yet what does remain is a desire after him. They may be, as the hymn writer said, very faint, very weak, but there is that longing after him, a looking for the Lord and the promise that he will see us again and visit us again.

Many of us, since we were first called by grace, have had many visits, many spiritual blessings, many times that Lord has softened our hearts, drawn our affections after him, blessed us with helps in our souls and in providence, favoured us with the visits of his face. And this title, Desire of All Nations, doesn't just belong to those in Israel, doesn't just belong to in England, or Australia, or Holland, or China, or Russia, or any of those other nations, Singapore, Hong Kong, those many nations, they desire The same Jesus, the same salvation, the same way of escape from the wrath to come.

It's not one God for one nation and one for another. The wonder of the gospel, that it cuts across every national boundary. All the different cultures, the word of God is still the same and it stands the same. And there's only one name given among men. whereby we must be saved.

Then there is a last coming, where the Lord says in John 14, that I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. I will come again. The Lord not only will come when his people die in death, and we think of Stephen when he was being stoned, he looked up and he could see the Lord and testified, the Lord who had ascended and sat on the right hand of the throne of God was standing to receive him. Wonderful thing, amazing thing.

The many as they have died, they have spoken of what they have seen, even before they fully departed from this life. But then there's the last coming. When the world shall be rolled up and finished, the Lord shall come with power and great glory, and every eye shall see him. The desire of all nations shall come.

Very often the language used for the Old Testament saints looking for the Lord's first coming applies to his second. The Apostle Paul, quotes that which the Jews had in Isaiah, hath not entered into the heart of man what God hath prepared for them that love him. And he speaks of it as applying to these gospel days.

The Old Testament saints could not picture today. And when we think of God's special people, Israel, how could they picture now? in every nation, churches, gatherings like us tonight, meeting round the word. The one that's preached is the one that was set forth in types and shadows to them. And yet he's come, and with great light, he's now being set forth as the saviour, the redeemer, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but should have eternal life." They couldn't picture it.

If we read the Old Testament, could we draw from the Old Testament to picture exactly as it is today? And the same with us, then, looking forward. We can't picture what it will be like when this world shall be no more, when there shall be a new heavens, a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, where all things shall be made new, where we shall have bodies, and soul that do not fight against each other, not an old flesh, a new spirit, but all renewed.

Paul says the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain until now. But one day it won't. But we can't picture how that will be. But what we do know is that The desire of all nations shall come.

And so when Paul preached to those in Thessalonica, one of the marks of the new birth, of the calling, was that to wait for his son from heaven. And so there's these times that the Lord shall come. The desire of all nations shall come.

I want to look lastly at the mark of God's people, that they are brought by God's grace to desire Him. I do want this to be a real encouragement, because it begins where God begins, with a desire for something that we do not yet have. and yet see a beauty and attractiveness in it.

In Hebrews 11, we read of those that died in faith. We mentioned how they, not having received the promises, seen them afar off. But they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. And they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. But we read in verse 16, But now they desire a better country that is in heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city.

The apostle says that we are to run the race set before us looking unto Jesus. And here there are people here desiring a better country. We have the Apostle Paul desiring to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. And that desire after Christ, it has the blessings of our Lord here below, spiritual blessings, but then it follows Christ where he is and in heaven and desires to be where he is.

in the temple, in his house, in the assemblies of the people, where the Lord is in the midst. And the soul desires to be with the Lord. When the Lord, on the days of his flesh, he healed souls, the mad Gadarene, those that he opened the eyes of the blind, and each time they desired to be with him. They didn't want to just be a believer, but separate from him. And the Lord says, Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. Well, could it be that the Lord is desiring his people to be with him, but his people don't desire to be with him? It's a two-way, isn't it? We don't know of the Lord's desire for us personally, for us to be with him. But we do know where the Lord has put a desire in our hearts that we do be with them, and we desire to be with the people of God.

Those feelings, those strong feelings often echo throughout the word of God. I always love it in the book of Ruth, the way that the Lord began with Ruth was a love to Naomi, and that then transposed to desires. And so when they had lost their husbands and Naomi was to go back to Bethlehem, she tried her daughters-in-law and tried to get them to go back to their own people and to their own gods, but you read, Ruth clave unto her.

And Ruth says, entreat me not to leave thee, nor to return from following after thee. For whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and will also, if ought but death, part thee and me, the strong desires that she had to be with Naomi, to go with her. And that influenced all that she said, all that she did.

Desire is a very strong thing. And Lord's dear people know it the other way, with their old nature, with its corrupt desires. And they can be very strong, very trying for them. but to have that desire after the Lord. We must emphasize it is not by nature that we desire Him. It is the Lord's work to first put in a sinner to desire Himself and to draw them to Himself. And so it is a mark of a beginning of grace that in one sense accompanies the people of God right through their lives. A change of desire.

Meditating upon this word, I thought back in my own experience, before the Lord began with me, I had no desire for the things of God at all. No desire at all. There was no beauty in them, no attraction whatsoever. But as soon as the Lord gave me spiritual life, then I had desires after these things. And desires are then put into actions. They affect what we do.

And so it is, say, Mark, what do we Desire, what do we long after? What do we seek after? What do we shape our lives around? May it be the Holy Spirit bears witness. He's given some of you this desire, this desire after the Lord. The desire of all nations. shall come. A people through all nations shall at God's appointed set time begin to desire the Lord, and through their lives that desire accompanies them until their desire is fulfilled and satisfied at last to be with the Lord in heaven.

The desire of all nations shall come. May the Lord bless this word to us. Amen.