Right, well we come back to this
series in The Minor Prophets, and Zechariah isn't such a minor
prophet, there are 14 chapters of Zechariah, so we'll probably
have a couple of messages at least from it. But... I want
to start with one this week in Zechariah chapter 4 verse 9.
There's any number, there's any number. Several years ago Don
Fortner preached a series of I don't know how many but it
was dozens and dozens of sermons from Zechariah because it is
so rich, it's so rich with prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
Zechariah lived at the same time as Haggai, the prophet that we
spent two weeks. We spent a week looking at the
message in Haggai chapter 2 and verse
9, the glory of this latter house, and expanded it in Hebrews chapter
9, where Paul shows that the glory of the latter house is
the glory of the gospel, and how the gospel and Christ's salvation
fulfills everything that the old temple stood for, the latter
house stood for. Zechariah is of the same era,
it's the end of the Babylonian captivity, it's the command of
Cyrus to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild, and then we're now
in the days of Darius who followed him, and they're restoring the
temple. It's the days of Ezra before
Psalms, you've got Ezra and Nehemiah. and Esther, but Ezra is there
restoring the temple. Nehemiah was building the walls
around Jerusalem. It was all at the command at
the end of the 70 years of Babylonian captivity, restoring the temple. Now you might say, why are we
interested in a historical account of a people, two and a half thousand
years ago, rebuilding a heap of stones that had been knocked
down 70 years before. What's the significance of it?
What on earth could it possibly have to do with us today? What
is its application? Don't we need to know what does
it say to you and me today? You see, everybody listening
to me now, and many will be true believers, but some perhaps will
not. Some will be looking out of interest.
Everybody is in one of two categories of people. You're either a true
Christian or an unbeliever. And I include in unbelievers
billions of idolatrous believers. People who follow a religion
which is not the religion of this book. It might sound like
it, they may use the language of it, but they do not believe
the words of this book. For the believer, why is it relevant
to you? Well, I believe it's this. And
this is what God does all the time. Why should believers listen
to the preaching of the gospel? Don't they know it? Why should
they listen to it over and over again? It's this. It's the means
of God giving you assurance that eternity, that your place in
eternity, that your salvation is certain and is complete. That's
what it's all about. It's the full assurance of faith
that we were thinking of last week. Hebrews chapter 10, 22,
wasn't it? The full assurance of faith.
You need assurance that eternity is sure, that your salvation
is complete. There is nothing that you can
do or not do that will undo your salvation, for Christ has accomplished
it. For the unbeliever, or for the
idolatrous believer who believes and trusts in a false god, there's
an alarm call here, that you need to wake up. to the truth
of God. You need to wake up to the Word
of God. Here we have it, the Word of
God, who has made all things, who is the judge, whom you will
certainly meet when you die. You need to wake up to the truth
of God, to His Word, to the certainty of His being, of His person. nothing that we see that exists
would exist were it not for this God. You need to wake up to the
justice of God, the character of God, the holiness of God,
and your situation before God as a sinner. And you need to
seek peace with God, and you need to seek reconciliation with
God before it's too late, because it is coming, the day is coming,
appointed to man to die once, and then the judgment. You need
to heed the message of Zechariah. Two and a half thousand years
old, but it's the same message that is ever new, as is the whole
scripture. All of these which testify of
the Lord Jesus Christ, as he himself said, you search the
scriptures, for in them you think that you have life. These are
they that speak of me. If we would have that assurance
of our salvation, if we would wake up to the reality of God,
we need to see the Lord Jesus Christ here. This is the acid
test. What is your standing before
God for eternity? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ? Not do you acknowledge a man
called Jesus exists. Do you trust him? Has God become
man to pay redemption's price for the sins of a multitude of
whom you are one? Do you believe him for that?
This is the message of the gospel of grace. God justifying hell-deserving
rebels through grace and grace alone. This is the gospel. This is the good news. That's
what the word means. The good news which men raised
up by God are willingly compelled to preach. You know, it's not
easy. Willingly compelled to preach.
Paul said, woe is me if I preach not the gospel. Doesn't it get
you into all sorts of trouble, Paul, with other people? Yes,
of course it does, but woe is me if I preach it not. I've got
to preach it, because it is the vital, the essential, the one
message you must heed and you must know. It's the only message
that can and will comfort your immortal soul. So, what is it
then? Well, let's have a look at it.
In Zechariah chapter 1 and verse 3, Zechariah chapter one and
verse three, well, verse two, the Lord hath been sore displeased
with your fathers, he says to these people. Remember the days
of Hagia, you're doing things to your own house and this house
lies ruins, you know, you're not thinking of the things of
God. The Lord has been sore displeased with your fathers, therefore,
he says to Zechariah, say unto them, thus saith the Lord of
hosts, Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will
turn unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. What does God say to
you, all of you listening, me as well? Turn to him, and he
will turn to us. That's what he says. It's so
clear, isn't it? Turn to God. Turn away from your evil. What's the biggest evil that
you commit all the time? Unbelief of God. That's the biggest
evil. Turn away from your unbelief.
Turn away from your rejection of God, your rebellion against
God. Turn away from the ways of those
that have gone before, the traditions that you've learned. And if you
turn to me, says God, I will turn to you. I will turn to you. God's saying, I will turn to
you. It's a message of grace and of peace, of reconciliation. Peace with God. But there's a
problem, isn't there? Are they not the descendants
of their fathers, of their ancestors? Are we not all in the same line
from Adam? We're the race of Adam, that
race in the flesh? What says that we will do any
better than those that went before us? What says that they would
do any better? than those that went before them.
The Old Testament history of the people of Israel, the Jews,
the descendants of Abraham, was a constant record of perverseness
against God and His forbearance, His patience with them. That's
the Old Testament constantly, you read it again and again.
You can take the view when you read these minor prophets, doom
and gloom, because it's always about the perverseness of the
people, in the face of the justice and holiness and grace of God.
And legal calls, you do this in the strength of your flesh,
and determined resolutions to obey repeatedly failed. Joshua, not Joshua in Zechariah,
he's the high priest, but Joshua, the one who followed on from
Moses, Joshua told the people to choose this day whom they
would serve, and they said, oh yes, we'll all willingly serve,
and then Joshua goes on to tell them. No you won't, you're weak
in the flesh, you're just like your fathers, you'll just do
the same. Because you see, it isn't law, it isn't legal obedience
that will make you right with God and keep you right with God.
No, that's what you'll hear in most churches in this country
today, it's grace alone. The grace of God in Christ alone
is what will keep you for eternity. In John 1 and verse 17 we read,
for the law was given by Moses, now contrast that, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. From Zechariah chapter 1 and
verse 7 to the end of Zechariah, The way of eternal peace between
God and sinners is drawn in many visions of grace, in visions
of accomplished redemption. Redemption, the payment of the
sin debt of the people, accomplished, that that is paid. Nothing is
left to be paid in any respect whatsoever. That is paid, and
there's visions of it here. It's entirely the work of God.
It's in no way dependent on the resolution of man. The resolution
that accomplished it was the resolution in the covenant of
grace before the beginning of time. What clearer picture of
this could we have than chapter 3 of Zechariah that Peter read
to us earlier? He showed me Joshua. the high
priest, standing before the angel of the Lord. And the Lord said
to Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. Satan, the accuser of
the brethren, was accusing Joshua of being a sinner, and oh, he
was a sinner. He said, but isn't this sinner,
this Joshua, a brand plucked out of the fire? You know what
that is? You know when you get a bonfire going, and there's a big bit
of wood that's burning and sizzling around the edges of it, and about
to go up and be completely consumed, and you pluck it out of the fire.
It is saved from the burning. It is saved by the skin of its
teeth. It is saved at the last moment. Now, verse 3, Joshua
was clothed with filthy garments. Oh, he was. If you read Ezra,
at the end of Ezra, chapter 10, verse 18, they'd taken heathen
wives, completely contrary to the law and purposes of God.
And he was defiled with sin, and they lamented over their
sin. That was it. But where did his
righteousness come from? It wasn't achieved by a resolution
of Joshua that he would try to do better in the future. It was
accomplished by the grace of God. It's God that clothed him
with a change of raiment and took off his filthy garments
of sin. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. All the things we try to do are
as filthy rags. But Isaiah 61 is it? He has clothed
me with the garments of salvation. Isaiah 61 verse 10, I think.
He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He clothed this
Joshua with the garments of salvation. Put a fair mitre on his head,
and they put a fair mitre upon his head. And how is it accomplished? There's one that's coming. I
will bring forth my servant, verse 8, the branch. That's Christ. That's speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's by that It's by that that
the purposes of God in salvation are accomplished. But what I
want to do this morning is to focus on chapter 4 and verse
9. Chapter 4 verse 9 says this,
the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house,
his hands shall also finish it, and thou shalt know that the
Lord of hosts hath sent me to you. I want to focus on that
this morning because, remember, I want those who do not believe,
or those who believe in idols, Christian idols as well, to take
note, to listen up and take note, to take note that you need to
You need to seek God, you need to find the truth while there
is still time. And to those of you who are believers,
I want to underline the assurance that the Word of God gives us,
that your salvation is certain, that your salvation is accomplished. And what I want to see in this
verse 9 of chapter 4, is the significance of the temple, again,
as we've been thinking in the last few weeks, secondly, its
foundation and its completion, And thirdly, discerning the Lord's
messengers who will tell you about it. So first of all, what
is the significance of the temple? You know, there was Solomon's
temple, which Nebuchadnezzar destroyed, and then 70 years
later they come back and they start to lay the foundations,
and they start to build the temple again in Jerusalem. And this
latter house, it seems as nothing compared with that former house,
but it shall be more glorious. Why? Because it speaks of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The significance of the temple
is it is a earthly picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is
God become man for the purpose of saving his people from their
sins. It's the earthly dwelling place
of God. It's where God says, I will dwell
on earth. If you want to meet me, you must
come here, is what he said. in those Old Testament days.
In Exodus 25 verse 8, let them make me a sanctuary, why? That
I may dwell among them. God dwelling with his people,
his people dwelling with their God. is people seeking the face
of their God, the people praying to their God and worshipping
their God. This is what it's about. It's the earthly dwelling
place of God. And it's God with us. So the
temple was, in a very real sense for those people, Immanuel. What
does Immanuel mean? God with us, God with us. The
Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name Immanuel.
He will be God with us. So the temple signified the one
who was God with us, who was the Lord Jesus Christ when he
came and walked this earth, when he was formed in the womb of
Mary, conceived of the Holy Ghost, when the foundation for him,
for his body temple, was laid there, the temple signified everything
that he was to become. He is the promised seed of the
woman from Genesis 3.15, from the fall. How is it going to
be recovered? How is a people going to populate
the kingdom of God? The seed of the woman shall come,
and the serpent shall bruise his heel. It will be painful,
but he shall bruise the serpent's head. That's a mortal blow. This
is God incarnate. This is God incarnate. Really,
it is. The temple was a picture of God
incarnate, of the Messiah, of the Lord Jesus Christ. The one
who in flesh the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwelt, as
Colossians 2 verse 9 says. You know what Philippians 2 says,
but you can't read it often enough. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. The Lord Jesus Christ took
nothing away from God that was not rightfully his. God will
not share his glory with another. And yet in John 17, Christ, just
before he went to the cross, the night before he went to the
cross, he prayed to his father, restore to me the glory that
I had with you before the world was. But God says, I will not
share my glory with another. Who is he that's praying this?
He's God. The fullness of the Godhead dwelt
bodily in Him. He made Himself, though He were
God, though He dwelt in glorious majesty, He made Himself of no
reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant. the pinnacle
of authority in the universe, the God of the universe, taking
upon Him the form of a servant, a maid in the likeness of men.
They looked upon Him, and He had no comeliness that we should
desire Him, says Isaiah. And they looked upon Him, though
He was just thirty years old or so, thirty-one, thirty-two,
And he'd said, before Abraham was, I am. And they said to him,
you're not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? He
was twenty years younger than they were thinking. He looked.
He had no comeliness that we should desire him. He took upon
him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. Because
this is why He came and why He became a man. He became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Because God, as Spirit
in heaven, cannot die for His people. He cannot, from that
position of lofty glory, die for His people. But in becoming
man, God, becoming man in the Lord Jesus Christ, for the obedience
of death, for the suffering of death, he destroyed him who had
the power of death, that is the devil. Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every
name. Now, is there anybody higher
than that? God has said this one has a name
higher than any other name, a name above every other name. He is
God, God our Saviour, God who came to save his people from
their sins. This is who it is. He even spoke
of his human body as a temple. He did. The Lord Jesus Christ
even did speak of his own human body as a temple. In chapter
2 of John and verse 19, Jesus answered, this is after he's
turned the money changers out of the temple. And Jesus answered
and said unto them, destroy this temple and in three days I will
raise it up. Well, of course, they all thought
he was speaking about this temple that Ezra and Zerubbabel and
the people around him in the days of Zechariah were rebuilding. And the Jews of Jesus' time said
to him, this temple was 46 years being built, and will you raise
it up, rear it up in three days? Verse 21, but he spake of the
temple of his body. Could that be clearer? It's speaking
of the temple of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, which
was the manifestation of the salvation of God. Just as the
temple was there where they met God, He came and walked among
us. And He, in Him, dwelt the fullness
of the Godhead, bodily. This temple was the only place
for acceptable sacrifice. It was the only place. There
was no other. look in Deuteronomy chapter 12
in Deuteronomy 12 and verse 13 this is what we read take heed
to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every
place that thou seest wherever you fancy offering it just don't
do it you know wherever you think that you can set this up and
anywhere and everywhere suits you just don't do it but in the
place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there shalt
thou offer thy burnt offerings, and there shalt thou do all that
I command thee. One place and one alone, only
one place. Christ was crucified at Jerusalem,
and Jerusalem alone. That was the only acceptable
sacrifice for sins. If your sins are to be paid for
so that you don't need to pay for them in eternity, because
God's justice and God's character cannot disregard your sin, they
must be paid for. Well, if you don't have to pay
for them, they must be paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's
cross. To look elsewhere, to think that
you can have an alternative to the blood sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ on Calvary, that is to set up an alternative.
It is to commit the sins of Jeroboam that you will read of again and
again in the Old Testament. Because when the ten tribes of
the north split away from the two tribes of the south, Judah
and Benjamin, and Jerusalem, Jeroboam tried to set up his
own place of sacrifice and of worship in competition with Jerusalem. That's the sin of Jeroboam. Why? Because it's ineffectual. It
doesn't achieve its purpose. It brings only condemnation,
for God had said, Jerusalem is the place. Where did Abraham
take Isaac? to the place that God showed
him, to sacrifice his own son there on Mount Moriah. Where
was that? Surely, surely it was those hills
around Jerusalem. Surely it was Calvary. It's the
only, the temple is the only place for true worship. It was
then, but now it is pictured in the Lord Jesus Christ and
the worship of God in him. True worship isn't in a specific
place now. True worship is in the gospel
grace of God, revealed in Christ. So the Holy Spirit points us
and teaches us these things. The daily sacrifice by which
God symbolically accepted those who approached was by an acceptable
blood sacrifice. And then once a year on the Day
of Atonement, when the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies.
All of these things speak and picture clearly the Gospel of
Grace, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the significance
of the Temple. Now, What is it when we read
a historical account saying that the temple is completed? It's
saying this. Salvation is completed. There
is nothing left to do. It's completed. It's finished.
This temple was also significant, not only of the Lord Jesus Christ
himself, but of individual believers who are in union with him, part
of his body. Ye are the temple of the living
God, says Paul to the Corinthians. As God had said, I will dwell
in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they
shall be my people. So you, you believers, are the temple of
the living God. You are the place where God dwells. Look in Ephesians chapter 2 and
verse 19. Now therefore, ye are no more
strangers and foreigners, in other words, aliens from the
kingdom of God, enemies of the kingdom of God, you are no more
strangers and foreigners, but you who were outside of the kingdom
of God, you, by Christ, by faith in Him, by what He has accomplished,
you are fellow citizens with the saints, with those that are
set apart in electing grace before the beginning of time. and of
the household of God. And you are this temple, you
are built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. You see the
vivid imagery and how Paul explains that it's fulfilled in the church.
In whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth into
an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are built together
for an habitation of God. God dwells by His Spirit, through
His Spirit, in His people, in His people individually, and
in His people corporately. It's repeated again in 1 Peter
and chapter 2. There we read about these living
stones, lively stones, in 1 Peter and chapter 2 and verse 5. coming as to a living stone which
is Christ, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also, as living
stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. You see, the temple pictured
this New Testament church situation. and individual believers, as
well as corporately as the church, the body of Christ, and Christ
himself in his body coming, which the temple symbolized, the temple
signified the church, believers individually and corporately,
God's earthly dwelling place. God is everywhere, you cannot
get away from him, but he particularly dwells with his people and in
his people, and that is such a clear foretaste of heavenly
permanence. This is it. This is where we're
headed. This is what the hope of true
believers is, that I shall be with him when I awake with his
likeness. This is our hope, that this body
of sin will be put away and we will have uninterrupted communion
with the God who has created us and who has saved us from
our sins and who will carry us to glory. And true worship, as
the only place of true worship was the Temple of God in Jerusalem,
true worship is in the hearts of true believers. It's in the
hearts of true believers where God is worshipped. We don't worship
God in a place, we worship God in our hearts. And the altar
in the temple which is the body of a believer, the altar where
the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit is laid,
is in the heart of the believer. The sacrifices of God, said David,
Psalm 51. the Psalm of Penitence, and verse
17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and
a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. This is what
God accepts, this is what God looks for in his people. Why
must the destroyed temple be rebuilt? to stand in the centuries
before Christ came into the world. Why are they going to all this
trouble in the face of such opposition? Why must it be rebuilt in the
centuries, four centuries or so, before Christ came into the
world? Because it prefigured Him through whom alone we sinners
can be reconciled with God and can commune with God. That's
the significance of it. Now, before it could be built,
Some work had to be done. The site had to be cleared. There
was lots of rubbish and detritus on the site of the old ruined
temple, Solomon's temple. The site had to be cleared and
the foundation had to be laid. And Zerubbabel laid the foundation
of the house and he shall finish it. This is exactly what it says.
Verse eight, the word of the Lord came unto me, Zechariah,
saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this
house. His hands shall also finish it, and thou shalt know that
the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. Me, Zechariah, I have
been sent unto you by the Lord. Zerubbabel laid the foundation
of the house, and he shall finish it. Sir Rubable was the rightful
heir of the throne of Jerusalem. He'd gone into captivity, but
sent back. He was the descendant and the
rightful heir of the throne of Jerusalem. He was king in Zion. And so, he was typical of Christ. Christ is our king. He is king
of kings and lord of lords. Joshua, his companion, was the
high priest. He's Jeshua, it's spelt in Ezra
chapter 10 and verse 18, Jeshua. Joshua typified Christ as well,
but not as king, but as priest. You see, these human pictures
always fall down in some way, they cannot fully described the
Lord Jesus Christ, but Zerubbabel was king in Zion and Jeshua was
priest in Zion. Our Lord Jesus Christ is prophet,
priest, and king to his people. And as Zerubbabel laid the foundation,
Zerubbabel laid the foundation in Jerusalem, and there was great
rejoicing when they got to that stage of rebuilding it. Remember, remember, the command
that came from Cyrus first of all, and then
Darius, to go back and to rebuild this town. These are pagan kings,
but God moved them to say that this would be done. And as Zerubbabel
laid the foundation, so Christ laid the foundation of grace
before time began. Before the beginning of time.
Read 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. The salvation of his people was
ordained, was set in unstoppable motion before
the beginning of time. And so the foundation of the
temple of Christ's body was laid in the Virgin's womb, you know,
when he was conceived of the Holy Ghost in the Virgin Mary.
When the fullness of the time had come, says Galatians 4 verse
4, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem those who are under the law. Do you see, layer on
layer, precept upon precept, beyond the capacity of any human
brain to work this out, to devise it, to contrive it, completely
beyond any human capacity to do that. Do you see how true
this is? Are you a believer? Rejoice, your salvation is sure. Are you an unbeliever? Take note. Take note, this is so serious,
take note. As the walls of the temple were
raised up on the foundations, Christ himself being the chief
cornerstone, so walls of salvation are raised in Christ in the gospel
of his grace. Isaiah 26 verse 1, we have a
strong city. Salvation will God appoint for
walls. If you read the account in Revelation
of the New Jerusalem, the walls are salvation. Salvation is the
walls. This city, the defense of God's
temple, you know you would say with the walls that keep people
out and hold the roof up. The defense of God's temple the
true temple, the Church, the Kingdom of God, that defence
of that temple is the salvation accomplished by Christ. Because
the salvation accomplished by Christ is a defense that Satan
cannot penetrate in any way at all. This is the assurance, believer,
full assurance of faith. Walls of salvation cannot be
penetrated. Satan can say or think what he
likes. He is the accuser of the brethren,
but he cannot prevail against the salvation that Christ has
accomplished it. He has laid the foundation and
he'll finish the whole thing. This is the heavenly city. It's
the city that is sought by God's saints, like Abraham, who looked
for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. It's a city which is built stone
upon stone by God until it is finished. That temple was built
stone upon stone until they got to the very top of it. And in
the same way, as Christ accomplished salvation from that foundation
laid in the womb of Mary, through his life, stone upon stone upon
stone, through all of his ministry, through all of the persecution,
through all of his teaching, through all of his miracles,
until he got to the cross, where he paid the penalty for his people's
sins to the point at which it was finished. And he said that. It is finished. The payment has
been made in full. Redemption's price is fully paid. Believer, for your sins, the
price of those sins has been fully paid by Christ on the cross,
and divine justice is satisfied. Divine justice has no more to
require of you who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. God is
just in that not one sin has been excused, not one sin has
been let go without any penalty being paid. Every single sin
will have its penalty paid, but at the same time, because Christ
did it for his people, He is not only just, He is not only
a just God, but He is the justifier of His people. He is the saviour
of His people. He was delivered, says Romans
4.25. He, Jesus, was delivered for
our offences. He paid the price of our offences,
and was raised up again in the resurrection for our justification. Because God was satisfied, the
resurrection was the vindication of the satisfaction of divine
justice, that the sins of the people of God were paid for in
full and therefore when they looked for, Jeremiah 50 verse
20, when they looked for in that day they shall not be found. And instead of depart from me
I never knew you, depart from me into everlasting damnation
I never knew you, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. This is exactly
as prophesied by Zechariah. In chapter 4 and verse 7, Who
art thou, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel? Thou shalt become
a plain, and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings,
crying, Grace, grace, unto it. This is the accomplishment of
salvation, pictured in the building of this temple. The headstone,
grace, grace unto it. The foundation, the building,
stone by stone, stone upon stone. Its completion, the completion
of this second temple, in the face of mountainous obstacles.
There were mountainous obstacles, but they shall become plain before
Zerubbabel. These obstacles shall be removed
out of the way, because God is with him. He promised this again
and again, God is with him in Haggai, I will be with you. It
symbolizes the eternal salvation accomplished by Christ for his
temple, which is his body, which is his church. And now, two and
a half thousand years later, Long after this second temple
was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Roman Emperor, the
picture is vividly clear, isn't it? It's here for us in history,
but it's vividly clear because it's fulfilled in the salvation
Christ has accomplished for his people. Do you trust God? Do
you rest in Christ, your soul's Sabbath rest? Here's a picture
from two and a half thousand years ago confirming the certainty
of your eternal blessing. Or are you unbelieving? In the
face of such compelling arguments, how can you not look more closely,
asking God to open the eyes of your soul and see? I just want
to finish quickly with this, and thou shalt know that the
Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. How will you hear? How will
you hear? Thou shalt know that the Lord
of hosts hath sent me to you. This is how, this is what God
says, listen to sound, true gospel preaching. Not any old preaching,
sound, true gospel preaching. It's the means that God is pleased
to use. By the foolishness of preaching
it pleased God to save those who believe. It's by preaching
that God clears the rubbish from the temple site of your soul
and believer. It's by preaching that God lays
the foundation of grace. It's by preaching that God builds
the walls of salvation and confirms to you that the man he sent to
preach to you is from God, with the message of God, to bring
forth the headstone of sure and certain salvation. I just want
to recount what happened to Christine's sister, 2009, when she was confirmed
as having terminal liver cancer. And she only had a few weeks
to live. And she contacted us, of course we were seeing a lot
of her. And I know some of you will remember this story from
the time, but it's absolutely true. And she said, I know I'm
dying in a few weeks, but I want to know the truth. So what we
did was we got one of those little MP3 players and we loaded it
up with loads of sermons from all of our friends on Free Grace
Radio. And she did. what the best thing she could
have done was. She listened to sermon, after
sermon, after sermon, and she came to a knowledge of the truth,
because God confirmed to her that the Lord of hosts had sent
that message to her. She died knowing the truth of
Gospel grace, of having peace in her soul. God's Spirit used
recorded sermons to reveal the truth of completed effectual
salvation in Christ. And she died with her soul peaceful
at the prospect of that impending appointment with death and judgment. Do you realize that that is so
important for each and every one of us? What does the scripture
say? Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
to you. Amen.