Are You Building — Zechariah 8-9

0:00 We'll pray first. Father, we thank you for your word. Lord, details that you've recorded for us. Details you want us to know, details lord that you want us to learn from. Details that you use to comfort us and convict us and so, as we look into em, we pray that you would turn our attention just a few of the details.

0:31 Lord, and we trust that our time before you and before your word would be profitable for as your holy spirit has access to our hearts and our minds. We would ask that you would keep us from outside distractions, that we could focus, that we could tune in, and listen to you. We know that all of us have lives that are full. But for these few moments, Lord, we would ask that they would be time before you. So that if anyone able to hear what your spirit says to the churches, we pray that we would have such ears today.

1:12 So, we commit our time thus in Christ's name. Amen. So, as announced, I when given the range of topics or the range of people, I picked two of the minor prophets. I happen to include Ezra because Ezra is the one who we find pinpoints their place in history. I know that you are not all history majors.

1:46 I know that. I am okay with that. You will be. Just wait. It might not be till you see Christ face to face and I...

2:03 Obviously, I'm okay with that as well. As long as you see him face to face. If not, then today is a great day to meet him face to face. If you don't know him, then today is a great day to cry out to him and say, Lord, save me. And he will be the one that knocks on your heart.

2:25 It won't be me. It won't be anything I say. It would be the spirit of god who's gone into the world to convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgement. Because he's drawing people because he's building a church and that church is really his bride and we call it church but that's a misnomer. He's building his bride.

2:42 Every person is a member. Living stones, the great mason, Jesus Christ, one person at a time. He started roughly two thousand years ago. Still doing it. Faithful.

3:01 Using his word to bring people to himself. Then he adds them. He seals his spirit into them. He borns them again, if you can forgive that use of the English phrase, and a person saved. All the great truths that we sing and rejoice about and we should.

3:26 But then the spirit of God in us then begins little by little to what? Transform us and use his words to make us more like him and to teach us how to follow and teach us how to obey. And, that's the work that you're involved in here. Because what he's ordained was that in every locality there should be a group of my people who come together at least once a week. The practice was the first day but it doesn't always have to be the first day which is today by the way.

4:01 And then when you come together then I'm going to meet with you and I'm going to use each of you in a way to help the person next to you and I don't mean literally next to you but help every other member be strengthened, to grow. You're all different ages physically, you're all different ages spiritually, but your intention is is that if you're here, then god brought you here for that purpose to edify the people around you. And in the process, you'll be edified by other people who are occupied with your edification. It's an amazing concept that Christ has when he said, do this, you know, let's have little local. You don't have to any longer.

5:25 So, it's of the Jews. Jesus Christ was a Jew. Right? And I don't know where you're at and your familiarity with the history of Israel and events of yesterday and that celebration they say planned fifty years after the war in 1973 that was similar in surprise attack. I had been a Christian for a little over a year at that time, and there had been recently saved in the community of Christians that I was with at that time, an Egyptian brother who was here doing, well he wasn't a brother at the time, was an Egyptian, and he was in America as a foreign exchange student.

6:13 And he got saved. Bunch of us kids, we like telling people how to get saved. We were Jesus freaks. Right? Ponytail, all that, bare feet, all that stuff.

6:24 And thankfully, our brother John, I still appreciate John's message about if you want to be like Christ, start wearing sandals. Precious, John. That is why I didn't really see many people with sandals on today. I I see a couple maybe. So, I guess that has been ignored, John.

6:47 We'll have to attack that a different way. So, this past week has been the feast of the tabernacle. You know that, in Israel. The same one that Jesus went to in John seven. Alright, the Feast of the Tabernacles where they celebrate with makeshift shelters the fact that they're pilgrims and they were called out.

7:08 And Then yesterday was a high Sabbath day. Yesterday was Shabbat but it's also a high Sabbath day called Simkat Torah which is a celebration of the annual reading of the complete Torah which is the first five books of our Bible which would never take any of us a whole year to do. Alright? But they celebrate and and those who've ever seen scenes where the rabbi's carrying the big scroll and they're kind of dancing. They got the Jewish dance going on and that's Simcat Torah.

7:36 That's the celebration on a day and they even they bring it to make it joyful, they bring wine in. They expect everybody to have a little taste to keep them joyful and to keep the feet moving because they want to dance and carry this Torah around and take turns and every brother who wants to be a reader of the Torah can take it and carry it himself and dance around the congregation. That was supposed to be yesterday. Instead, they were in the shelters. You see, because god has a plan.

8:05 You know, Zechariah and we're going to get to Zechariah and forgive me if this introduction is rather lengthy. We are going to go to Ezra so you can turn yourself in your Bible there eventually but Zechariah has that great truth in the ninth chapter about, behold, your king is coming. Victorious, he's coming. Riding on a donkey and that's what caused the confusion. A victorious king doesn't ride into the city on a donkey.

8:32 So, on Palm Sunday as we call it, Christ came into the city. He had that the foal picked out, told his disciples exactly where to go to get him said, and if they ask a question, you tell him this, the lord needs him. The lord needs him. And so they and Christ went in and that you can find that in the gospels and and but they didn't see him. They didn't recognize him.

8:57 Yes, they said, Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna but they didn't realize that he was a king. He was the king. And the revelation is a picture of one who's called the king of kings Riding on a white horse. I would have vastly different appearance of Jesus Christ. One lowly coming and you know this, by the time you get to the thirteenth chapter of Zechariah, you have that great promise.

9:30 To all of Israel, I'm going to open a fountain of blood to cleanse you from your sin and four verses later, what's the question? That somebody saw a man with wounds in his hands. And asked, what are those wounds? Says Zechariah 13. And the response is, those are the wounds that I've received from the members of my house, from my friends, from my friends.

9:58 And that fountain that was open for all of Israel to be saved, to have their sins removed as well as Gentiles was of course, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the glorious next verse in that thirteenth chapter, when Christ is referred to again, awake, oh my sword, against my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow. I will strike the shepherd as Christ himself quoted at the lord's supper and all the sheep will be scattered. Talking about himself. Himself, awake, oh my sword, he said.

10:38 Yeah. That's the Jesus Christ we're talking about. It's him. It's him who has on his thigh and on his vest your name written king of kings and lord of lords. The king, beloved, is coming.

10:53 A king is coming. I trust you're ready to meet him. I trust you're ready to meet him. Alright? If not, then today can be the day of salvation as he has promised.

11:18 I I have the choice to select what I want to emphasize. You know, why I think the spirit of god has given me the saying and not coincidentally but coinciding with the fact that these were the matters in the Old Testament that I was studying prior to being asked to come on October 8. These were the truths in the Old Testament because I spent a day and I knew I spent a day and I know it and go back and forth. But history is a big part of it. A thousand years ago, what happened a thousand years ago?

11:48 Not exactly to this day. A thousand years ago you are talking about William the Conqueror out of France into England. Pilgrims, all that, alright, was a result. Couple hundred years after that, right? Thousand years before that, what was going on?

12:04 Jesus Christ was walking on the planet. Thousand years before that, what was going on? David was putting up a temple with Solomon. Thousand years before that, what was going on? Abraham.

12:16 It is not that long ago. This is in the year of the Jewish calendar 5784. 5784. They don't use the BC and the AD thing. That's that and the Romans didn't either.

12:32 That was Ezra chapter one. History is all of it. You're part of it. You don't think that god has an account of your personal history? Now, I can trace my DNA back to before William the Conqueror and that's why I knew that detail.

12:55 And it doesn't matter if you can or not because god can. God knows exactly everyone in your you're a descendant of and they're descendant in a fifteenth. Whatever generation you're of. He knew everyone that was saved. He knew everyone that belonged to him and he knew everyone who didn't.

13:14 He knew everyone who didn't but you're part of the book of life. Your names are in the book of life if you know Christ because he has as unfolding history. God put Adam to sleep to make a woman to form a woman We don't know how long that took. We don't know. But for two thousand years, Christ has been forming a bride.

13:46 Everyone of your history is recorded in the heavens. Everyone of you who were brought to Christ through the work of the spirit probably used another person to do so. There in that same history book. You are in god's history book. You're part of god's family, member of the bride of Christ.

14:12 I believe one day, god will say, everybody get in line in order. In order. The order of your salvation and we'll go back to the day of Acts and see Peter stand up and then eventually, twelve twelve baptized in 3000 they're all connected. They're all connected and then another generation, they're all connected. There would be people standing in line holding on to hold on to the hand of the person that brought you to it and you you get the, wow, you look down this line from the day of Pentecost till now, you see a lot of people.

14:50 That's the body of Christ. That's the bride of Christ and you remember and god knows your history. Whether you know it or not, not important But I'm gonna suggest you one more time, blow it. Eventually, you're gonna like history. You're gonna like how you got saved.

15:11 You're gonna like how you got saved. You're gonna like that the pilgrims came and brought Bibles. You're gonna like that because that's god's history book. Now, there's a lot of history in here. I don't get it all.

15:55 This is what Cyrus, king of Persia says, verse two. The lord, the god of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. We know the history. We know that this is roughly 539, 538 disagreement. Some historians disagree on exact year.

16:20 Five thirty eight BC. BC. Right? BC. We know that they went into captivity as he references according to the word of Jeremiah the prophet and Jeremiah said, and this is one of the great promises that people love.

16:38 I know the plans that I have for you, say it the lord. Plans of good. Everybody likes that. They forget that it is about this. Because the previous verse says, and when seventy years are up.

16:50 So, we know historically where we are at in history. Can you imagine that Cyrus is being told by God to send people back to build him a temple? He wouldn't even let David build him a temple. David, King David was not allowed to build the temple. He handed off that responsibility to his son.

17:14 We know from first Chronicles 28, 29 that David was involved because everything that the spirit of god impressed upon him, he eventually wrote down. He took notes. It great to take notes? Especially when you're talking to god, you should take notes. It is.

17:33 Again, think about Zechariah, the minor prophet. How many times in our first nine chapters he said, about Zechariah, I love it because I asked too many questions. I know and then I asked and then I asked and then I asked and you know, I wish John would have done more of that in Revelation. So I asked the question because I didn't get it. Most of us don't get it.

17:53 But the point is, is Zachariah, he asked. I want to ask a question. I was teasing with Bob. I just like to show up and say to everybody, okay, I'm going to take any question you have and see what we get. I was an adult Sunday school by the way.

18:07 Ask questions. Give and take. Reparte, you see? Give and take. A little back and forth.

18:15 But I know that's not this. This is family of ours. So, here we are in history, Cyrus. We know where Cyrus came from. He overtook the Babylonians.

18:23 We know where the Babylonians came from. They took over the Assyrians. We had that with brother Meng when he was doing Jonah. Jonah was about going to Nineveh which is the capital of the Assyrian Empire. It's all historical and how do we know Cyrus really really did this?

18:40 He wrote it on a column himself. He had his scribes write down his decrees on a column carved in stone and guess where that column is? Not Cleveland British Museum Because when they conquered the world, the Brits, the British Empire, they collected a lot of artifacts and took it home with them. So, people could see it. And they're in the process now, give them some room back, which is good probably.

19:11 But the Cyrus column, you could go read. Not that you would understand it, but you can go look at it. So we find in the whole first chapter Cyrus sending people back. We find people going back, right? And we're just skipping through Ezra right here.

19:27 Sorry. In the second chapter, we see them going back. People even names and numbers, alright? But by the end of the second chapter, verse 68, when they arrived at the house of the lord in Jerusalem, hold it. No.

19:41 They didn't arrive at the house. They arrived at where the house was. The house is burnt down. The house was destroyed. They gave free wool offerings towards the rebuilding of the house.

19:53 On that site, verse 68 says, and so they went and settled about in their countries. Then, seven months later, verse one of Ezra three, seven months came and the Israelites had settled in their towns. They assembled and they said, let's begin at least to build the altar, verse two, a place to sacrifice. Alright? They didn't want to build a temple yet, just let's find a place where we can sacrifice.

20:25 So, despite the fear of the people around him, verse three, they build an altar. And they sacrifice burnt offerings on it to the lord. Both morning and evening and they did and then in accordance, what day did they keep? They celebrated the Feast of the Tabernacle. And their calendar, that was last week.

20:44 So time wise, we are almost in the same period of the year, alright, as this writing. They celebrated the Feast of the Tabernacles. You just don't pick what day. They have it according to their their calendars. On the first day of the seventh month, verse six, they offered.

21:23 Verse 10, as prescribed by David. They gave a great shout. Verse 11, they sang. They may have a lot of, yeah, celebration and then come this little detail, verse twelve and thirteen. The older priest who saw the first temple, they weren't so excited.

21:42 They wept. When they saw being laid. No one could distinguish the sound of shouts of joy for the sound of weeping because all the people made such noise and the sound was heard far away. Now, imagine that. The meeting, everybody's happy with some are crying.

22:01 Nobody knew we can tell why. There's a lot of noise but we can't tell. There's people crying. There are people who are crying because we saw the original. And the people are singing, they're celebrating because this is brand new toss.

22:13 And so you have what? You probably, I hate to say this you young people, you know, I know you're young, I feel young, I talk young, I act young, but I know I'm old. Alright? The young never saw the first. It's been seventy years or sixty plus.

22:32 They were born there. They never saw Jerusalem. Have no idea what Solomon's Temple look like. They're not in their mind. To have any type of wow, it's really different.

22:45 It's all people, we see it. Wow, that's a huge difference. And so, everyone in a while, young people, you have to forgive us old timers. If we think, well, the past was better than the present. Forgive us.

23:01 Forgive me if I think these young people don't get it like I got it. I know you do. Be assured, I got a lot of confidence in you. Alright? But you don't get it like I got it.

23:15 I am only teasing. And so what? But really what are the old people excited about? The glory of the temple? Not the king who lives in the temple?

23:28 We saw the beauty of the old temple. That's like the disciples said. Look at the beautiful when they sat outside the last week of Christ's life. They sat outside across from the valley and looked back and saw this temple. Wow, it's beautiful.

23:41 Tell us, tell him, hold Christ said, it's all gonna be torn down. Because they're occupied with the temple, the building, not the person And that's the primary issue here. If people who are old or focused on a building, a building that when it was torn down by Nebuchadnezzar and destroyed was full of hypocrisy. But it was a nice building. But inside, like the like the Pharisees were told, your dead man's bones.

24:17 And that's the danger of thinking that it's about the edifice. It's about the building. It's about the structure. It's about the visible. It's about what people see, what they recognize, and the old people wept because this new foundation is very small compared to the beauty of the old one.

24:35 Behold it, Christ asked through one of the prophets, both Haggai and Zechariah but we won't have time clearly to get to it. Do you despise a day of small things? It looks little in your eyes. Because it's not about a building. It's about his presence It's about god's presence in the building.

25:00 It's not about that we have a cross that figures that shows. It's not about a steeple. It's about the person. Jesus Christ. Amen.

25:10 And that is who we proclaim. A person, not a religion, not a location, and how much more so when we know that the New Testament is built on the strength of you have become the very temple of the living god. You, if you receive Christ, his spirit, born into you by the power of god to be born of the spirit, he took up residence in you. You do not any longer belong to yourself. You have been bought with a price.

25:43 That's your body. Therefore, glorify god in body and spirit which are the lord's and then, take a collection of those people, all of which individually have the spirit of god living in them and put them in one location called Westlake on Hilliard Avenue in Westlake Cleveland And then you have suddenly this dynamic, this wonderful dynamic that Christ, yes, teaching about discipline in the church and how to deal with each other when you have differences. Yet, over and all he says, and all this will be true because, because wherever I have gathered two or more, I'm going to be in the middle, in the middle. And what better way to solve problems between two brothers than have Christ between them. What's the problem?

26:27 What's the problem? You got a problem with another person? What's the problem? Christ stand before it. Hold one, hold, you guys wanna go at it?

26:35 No, you gotta get to me to go at it. That's my sheep. That's my sheep. What are you gonna do? Because he's in the middle.

26:44 And when we ask him to sit in back, no wonder we're at each other's throats. No wonder we disagree. We don't recognize Christ in the middle. That in all things he might what? Have preeminence.

26:55 That means in the middle. He is the center of attention. He is the center of attention. Don't ask me where he sits. Why you got rows facing front?

27:09 He's in the middle. It's what he said. I can only go by what he said. He's in the midst. He's in the middle.

27:37 Yes, you have. Most of you have. Some of you came to be build up because you need it. Yeah, I get that. I understand that.

27:44 That's also true and it's always going to be true. There are always going to be the weak in the face and we gotta build them up but the majority of you came to build and so, it's easily to be discouraged when you're a builder when there's constant comparison between something that really wasn't that good. Why are you so worried that that old temple was better than what god's presence is gonna be to us now because that old temple was filled with hypocrisy. Those priests were corrupt. Totally corrupt.

28:20 Ezra four, we start out with the enemies of Judah. They came to Zerubbabel and said, let us help. They wanna help at first and you know that they said, well we've been here since the king of Assyria brought here and you're familiar with second king 17 where when Sennacherib took the northern tribes off, he replaced them with five different kinds of population, five different ethnic groups. And they just did their thing and they're living in Samaria and that's why Samaritans are Samaritans, right? Because they've been cross populated with five different ethnic groups that brought their own gods and when it happened, you know, second Kings 17, god sent physical lions in there to destroy some of em.

29:07 You know that little detail. He sent lions in. God sent lions in to destroy some of em to get their attention. And how precious it is. That in John four when it says, Christ had to go through Samaria and god sent a different kind of lion in.

29:28 He sent the lion of Judah in. He ain't going to devour them. He went in to offer him eternal life. If you drink of this water, you will have eternal life. That is quite a different line.

29:48 And that's Jesus Christ who we are talking about. But in this point in history, they are bragging that, well, we've been here ever since the Assyrians dropped us off here and told us this is our new neighborhood. No, the rebel says, no thanks. No thanks. And trust me, there's always going to be the cry of the world that says, let us help.

30:07 Let us help. Let us help. Let, we can, we have offer, we can give, we can do things, we have. Now, listen, Zerubbabel said, no, thank you. No, thank you.

30:19 This is god's work done by god's people. Well, that didn't go well. They discouraged him, made them afraid to go on building. Verse four, they bribed the officials. They launched an accusation and so what happened?

30:34 They were compelled to stop. Verse 23. They're compelled to stop. It has been my experience throughout my fifty plus years of following Christ. There have been different circumstances in my life that I felt, wow, I should stop.

30:52 I've been compelled to stop. That compels me to stop. I don't say those words. I find it easier to use other words like, I'm so tired of this nonsense. It's so frustrating, these people.

31:08 The people that I have to work with, they're so resistant, they're so rejecting, they're so dull of hearing and so I I stopped. I'm telling you, I have. And I'm asking you at the same time, what mode are you in this morning? And that's not the final question by the way. We're getting there.

31:30 Have you been compelled to stop building by some circumstance that you think is too great? You can't take another, you can't lift that hammer up again. You can't do that. You can't make that one phone call. You can't visit that one person.

31:42 You can't pray for that one person for two minutes because I'm just compelled. Something's over burdening you to compel you to quit being involved with other Christians for their benefit. I get that because it's happened to me, alright? I'm not in that mode right now though. Fifth chapter, Haggai.

32:26 Maybe carrying their Bibles down to the work site every day where they're hammering and chiseling and cutting out stones, but I got a scroll here and I want you to know God's spoken to me and this is it. So, boom. Get to work. I don't I'm not that probably not what happened. I just made you realize that verse two of chapter five says that.

32:44 The prophets of god were with them supporting them. Well, it gets worse. So, then, of course, we get the death of Cyrus, the death of his son Cambyses, and we get to King Darius. Alright? Now, let's go to Haggai.

33:04 So, because you gotta ask yourself hard questions. What what did Haggai say? That got him back revived. They're revived. They went down to Jerusalem to build in 538 and 536, they stopped.

33:23 They were compelled to stop by a decree, alright? So, now, they don't start again till 05/20 right? Sixteen years later, in the second year of Darius, there's a sixteen year period of nothingness except discouragement, alright? In the second year of King Darius, Haggai won. On the first day of the sixth month, the word of the lord came to the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel.

33:58 This is what the lord says. These people say, the time has not yet come to build. The word of the lord came through the prophet. Is it time for yourselves to be living in paneled houses while this house remains a ruin? This is what the lord almighty says.

34:16 Give careful thought to your ways. I'll just stop right there. Give careful thought to your ways. Not give careful thought to what you believe. I'm not asking you to consider what you believe.

34:32 Keep careful thought to what you're doing. What you're doing? Is it time for you to live in paneled houses? Wow. This house, the temple, remains a ruin.

34:49 Oh, here's a comparison. If Zechariah is full of visions, enjoy them. They're all beautifully presented of which of course, one is the king coming. Haggai gives them a vision of their home He looks deep into their own individual house. Did he go to every house?

35:16 No. He didn't go to every house. The lord gave him insight to what is happening with my people who came back sixteen years ago all excited to build was detoured, was discouraged, was distracted. Well, all these issues but here we are on this day, sixteen years later, five twenty BC, right? The first day.

35:42 And I'm telling you, he says to these people, is it time that you have such a not just a house, not a big house, a well decorated with paneled wall house, expensive, above and beyond, more than you need, no doubt. Luxurious, probably. Not what they're used to because they've been so blessed with god given em. All to the neglect of what god really wants. I want a temple that I'm going to dwell on.

36:13 Now, If you read Dead Sea Scrolls, I don't know if you ever do. They're readable, some of em. There's one sea scroll, Dead Sea Scroll, and it was all around that area called Qumran, right? And they're all, they're labeled. So, 4Q 169 is a Dead Sea Scroll that happens to be a commentary on the book of Nahum.

36:45 And in that book, there's a reference made to a group of Jews who are called and labeled as the seekers of smooth things. That's their title. The seekers of smooth things. I'm convinced it was prophetic to the Christians. Just please we would prefer smooth things Why?

37:19 Because we think that really this whole thing about god in our midst is about us. Him making us feel smooth. In smoothing out our rough ways and making us feel good and about our abundant life. That's what we think it's about and and that's what people are drawn to. The church or what's happening now is filled with people who what?

37:41 Want, want, want, want, want, smooth things. The seekers of smooth things. Listen to what god says. Verse six, you've planted much, you've harvested little. You eat, you're never full.

37:55 You drink, you never fill. You put on clothes, you never warm, you earn rages, and put them in a purse with holes in it. Wow. Does that sound like America? Nobody satisfied with anything.

38:18 I spent too much time to everlasting. Verse eight, go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the lord. That's the issue. And it's the hardest verse for me. You know why?

38:41 Because it's subjective. It's subjective I don't think they had a copy of what David gave Solomon. I don't think that was preserved through history. You read about it but I don't think it's preserved. In other words, they don't have a blueprint.

39:00 They don't have a blueprint. So, when you use words like this, build me a house that I take pleasure in and I will be honored in. Who's going to define that? Oh, I got an idea as a rebel says. Joshua, I got an idea.

39:18 Every other builder, what's my idea? Because I think dishonors the lord. I think this is, I think my opinion says, we should, this is more important than that. This over here should go over there. It's everybody up to what judges says.

39:32 Everybody's just doing that which is right in their own eyes because they're convinced that they have the mind of the lord. It is not important that you enjoy breaking a bread. It's important that Jesus Christ did. That he felt worship not because you told him we worshiped We can't just tell him we're honoring him. He has to feel like he's honored.

40:02 He has to sense that he is honored. Right? Then, he will take pleasure Now, that's subjective. We think it's honoring if we're doing this. I get that.

40:19 I get that. Everybody has their own opinion about what is honoring to the lord. Do you remember what god sent the old prophet to the priest Eli in first Samuel chapter two and he told him this, you honor your sons more than you honor me. Know this for sure, Eli. Those who honor me, I honor.

40:41 Those who despise me are lightly esteemed. And why is all that true? Because in this you'll get in Zechariah and I promise I'll close with this one last truth. The whole book of Zechariah is more than the people coming back. It's about god coming back.

41:01 It's about him being recognized. It's about him. Manifesting himself not only to the Jews but to the nations around them, to the nations around them and you read through the book of Zechariah and you come to conclusion. This is the book about them coming back to build the temple and waking up Zerubbabel and Joshua to get the job done and they did it in four years by the way. But it was about because god wanted people to recognize his presence.

41:33 He didn't want people to recognize the Jews are back. Wow, Jerusalem's a great city again. Let's all go. It's got a nice tent. Well, not really that nice.

41:40 It was got a temple again. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is the manifested manifestation of god in the midst of his people and that glorious verse, I gotta read it. I I'm sorry. I don't have time.

41:58 Verse 22, of The eighth chapter Many people and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the lord. They're not coming to looking at Jewish history. They're coming to seek the lord and this is what the lord almighty says in verse 23. In those days, 10 people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, let us go with you. Because we have heard that god is in your midst.

42:30 Oh, when you pulled in today with the 10 cars behind you, You have 10 people hanging on to your hem of your robe, your jeans saying, I wanna go with you because we recognize that you meet with the almighty. That Jesus Christ is in your midst. It's him. Not about Jews having a temple. We pray for peace in Jerusalem.

43:08 God's on schedule. Jesus Christ, wow. What happened? No, he knew all about yesterday. He knew all about it.

43:18 He's on his way back. The king is coming soon. Soon. Alright? I commend to you the history that you're part of.

43:30 You're weighing in. Yeah, maybe you're the last couple chapters. I get that. But it's his history. It's his story.

44:07 We would not presume to know how to honor him other than to obey. Lord, other than to be obedient We would ask that you would separate us from our own thoughts, our own intentions, our own opinions on any variety of issues that face Christians in our world today and ask that we would find ourselves bowed in your presence, humbled, lord Jesus, by you in our midst. Being afresh, What are these wounds? Where did they come from? We pray we would never be bored to ask that question.

44:48 We commit ourselves to you in Christ's name. Amen.